Cuba struggles to restore power after grid collapse

Cuba's government said yesterday it had made some progress in gradually re-establishing electrical service across the island, including to hospitals and parts of the capital Havana, after state-run media earlier reported the national grid had collapsed for a second time in 24 hours. Most of Cuba’s 10 million people, however, remained without electricity yesterday afternoon.

- DAVE SHERWOOD

Traffic lights were dark at intersections throughout Havana, and most commerce was halted. Long lines formed at statesubsidised shops where Cubans purchase bread and other staples.

The country’s top electricity official, Lazaro Guerra, said grid operator UNE was working to raise enough capacity in the system to start several power plants and restore electricity to larger swathes of the country.

“I cannot assure you that we will be able to complete linking the system today, but we are estimating that there should be important progress today,” Guerra said on a TV newscast.

CubaDebate, one of the island’s state-run media outlets, said on social media that UNE had reported another grid collapse.

Mr Guerra has not directly confirmed the second total collapse and referred instead to a smaller, more localised setback, creating confusion as to what had happened.

Cuba’s electrical grid first failed around midday on Friday after one of the island’s largest power plants shut down.