Cuba Restores Power to Havana After Massive Blackout

Cuba has successfully reconnected its national electrical grid, restoring power to most of Havana after a significant island-wide blackout affected approximately 10 million people. The outage began late Friday evening due to a transmission line failure at a key substation in Havana, triggering a domino effect that disabled the entire national power generation system.

By late Sunday, cheers echoed across Havana neighborhoods as electricity gradually returned to roughly two-thirds of the city's households, with officials stating power restoration would continue overnight. The blackout had previously halted commercial activities, closed restaurants, disrupted telecommunications, and left streets in darkness, severely impacting daily life and tourism in Cuba's densely populated capital.

Cuba’s two primary oil-fired power plants, Felton and Antonio Guiteras, resumed operations by Sunday evening, signaling a critical milestone toward stabilizing the national electricity supply. The western province of Pinar del Rio, one of the last regions affected, also saw power restored by nightfall.

Friday’s incident marks Cuba’s fourth nationwide blackout since October of last year, reflecting ongoing challenges in the country's aging power infrastructure. Cuba has been grappling with severe economic difficulties, compounded by reduced oil imports from traditional suppliers such as Venezuela, Russia, and Mexico.

In response to the crisis, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel highlighted the government's intensive efforts to restore and stabilize the power system, emphasizing the creation of "microsystems"—local grids designed to reconnect progressively. Several provinces, including Guantánamo, Santiago, Las Tunas, and Pinar del Río, successfully operated these microsystems, providing immediate relief to vital services and communities.

The rapid response and the restoration strategy underscore Cuba's resilience in managing frequent infrastructure disruptions. However, the repeated outages continue to highlight critical vulnerabilities within Cuba’s energy sector, underscoring the need for significant investment and modernization.

As Cuba moves forward, the country's approach to energy infrastructure and grid stability will undoubtedly remain a critical topic for policy makers and international observers alike.

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