Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed again on Saturday morning, causing a second blackout across the country, just hours after authorities announced they were restoring service, state media reported.
Cubadebate, one of the island’s government media outlets, said Cuba’s grid operator, UNE, had reported a “complete disconnection of the national electro-energetic system” at 6:15 a.m.
“Electric Union is working on its restoration,” the brief message said.
Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed for the first time around noon on Friday after one of the island’s largest power plants failed, suddenly knocking out power to more than 10 million people.
Even before the grid collapsed, power outages on Friday had forced Cuba’s Communist-run government to send non-essential state workers home and cancel school classes for children as it seeks to save fuel for generations. Was trying to.
But on Friday evening, lights began flickering at scattered locations across the island, giving some hope that power would be restored.
The grid operator has not yet provided any details about what caused the grid to collapse again on Saturday, or how long it will take to restore service.
Cuba’s government has blamed deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand for blackouts often lasting 10 to 20 hours a day across much of the island for several weeks.
Officials have said strong winds that began with Hurricane Milton last week had also complicated the island’s ability to deliver scarce fuel from offshore boats to feed its power plants.
Fuel supplies to the island have declined significantly this year, as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, once major suppliers, have reduced their exports to Cuba.
Key ally Venezuela cut supplies of subsidized fuel to Cuba by half this year, forcing the island to seek far more expensive oil on the spot market.
The Cuban government blames the US trade embargo as well as sanctions under then-President Donald Trump for ongoing difficulties in obtaining fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants.
The United States on Friday denied any role in the grid collapse in Cuba.
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