Cuba's Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, reported from the Foreign Ministry that the last customer is expected to regain electricity supply between Monday and Tuesday. The total outage of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) occurred on Friday morning due to a problem at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, located in Matanzas, about a hundred kilometers east of Havana.
After that outage, two more interruptions were recorded in the early hours and the night of Saturday, while efforts were being made to recover the electrical system, which left the western area of the island disconnected. Authorities are implementing a protocol to gradually reconnect the system, powering up areas and microsystems to then interconnect them.
Vicente de la O Levy stated that the main cause of this situation is the difficulty in accessing international markets and fuel, as a result of the economic blockade against Cuba. Despite advances in the re-energization of the system in recent hours, it is warned that electrical outages may persist due to the fuel deficit under which the country operates.
The minister highlighted that the recovery process has successfully brought electricity to priority areas, such as hospitals and water pumping zones. A subsystem has been established from Mariel to Holguín, and stability and gradual expansion are expected. De la O Levy also mentioned the approach of Hurricane Oscar, which will generate rain and strong winds in the eastern region, where key electricity generation points are located.
The situation in the Cuban electrical system is described as "very tense" due to the technical state of the thermoelectric plants, which, after decades of operation without spare parts, face maintenance difficulties due to the U.S. blockade.
