The day before, the government announced the cessation of work in the public sector, as well as other measures, to combat the energy crisis hitting the island. In recent weeks, some provinces have suffered power cuts of up to twenty hours a day.
The shutdown of Cuba’s main thermal power plant caused a breakdown in the island’s entire electrical system, the Ministry of Energy and Mines said on Friday, in a context of“energy emergency”. “The system is without electricity throughout the country”after the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras plant, Lázaro Guerra, general director of electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, told state television.
The day before, the government announced the cessation of work in the public sector, among other measures, to deal with the energy crisis affecting the island. In recent weeks, the population of several provinces has experienced up to twenty hours without electricity in a day. Lázaro Guerra clarified that when the power plant stopped “the system has collapsed” and that the government was mobilized to restore it as quickly as possible.
An “energy emergency” situation
President Miguel Díaz-Canel declared on X that“There will be no rest until he recovers” and that the government has made the resolution of this “very sensitive energy problem”the “absolute priority”. Miguel Díaz-Canel announced Thursday that Cuba was in a situation of“energy emergency” because of difficulties in purchasing the fuel necessary to power its power stations, because of the strengthening of the embargo that Washington has imposed on the island since 1962.
To deal with this situation, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced the suspension of all non-essential state activities, while the electricity deficit reached almost 50% on Thursday. On the island, electricity is produced from eight dilapidated thermal power plants, sometimes broken down or under maintenance, as well as seven floating power plants, which the government rents to Russian companies, and generators. Most of this infrastructure requires fuel to operate. The island is currently experiencing its worst crisis in three decades, with shortages of food and medicine and chronic power cuts.
