Cuba said it had begun efforts early on Sunday to restore power after its grid collapsed for the second time in a week amid a U.S. oil blockade that has dealt a major blow to the island’s already ailing energy infrastructure.
The grid collapsed Saturday evening at 6:32 p.m. (2232 GMT) after a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Cuba’s Camaguey province, failed and went offline, grid operator UNE said, causing a cascade effect that knocked out power to the nation’s approximately 10 million people.
Cuba’s energy and mines ministry said early on Sunday it had established microsystems – smaller, closed circuits – in all of the island’s provinces to restore power for vital services like hospitals, water supply and food distribution.
The country’s two gas-fired power plants, operated by Energas, were running in Varadero and Boca de Jaruco, and electricity had reached the nearby Santa Cruz oil-fired plant, the energy ministry said on social media.
Cellular service and internet was almost entirely unavailable in most areas, leaving many without communication of any kind.
Cuban prime minister Manuel Marrero said the recovery effort was taking place under “very complex circumstances.”
