Cuba's national power grid experienced another complete breakdown on Saturday morning, reversing the minimal progress made in restoring it after a widespread blackout that occurred Friday at noon. State-run media reported the incident on social media, noting that the Cuban Electric Union (UNE) is once again working to fix the issue.
"The Electric Company reports that at 6:15 am today, the National Power Grid suffered another total disconnection," stated the official portal Cubadebate in a breaking news update. CNN's correspondent in Havana, Patrick Oppmann, also confirmed the event on his social media accounts. "Just hours after authorities said electricity was slowly being restored, Cuba experienced another nationwide blackout on Saturday morning," he noted.
The general blackout that hit Cuba on Friday morning was triggered by the unexpected shutdown of the country's largest thermoelectric plant, Antonio Guiteras. The situation remained unresolved by early Saturday, despite some progress aimed at supplying power to thermal plants for their restart. "Currently, we have microgrids in all provinces except Artemisa, which have limited power and reach nearby consumers," said Lázaro Guerra Hernández, Director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, on Friday night.
Guerra Hernández provided additional details about the slight progress achieved in the restoration process of the national power grid, indicating that the limited energy being supplied on Saturday in Cuba came from power generators. "Building strength in the microgrids allows us to start interconnecting systems to achieve a national link at some point," he added, attempting to instill confidence in the solutions proposed by the same experts and authorities who were caught off guard by a global headline-making blackout.
On Friday evening, the nation's leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, took to social media to express his commitment, stating, "The country's leadership is giving absolute priority to addressing and resolving this highly sensitive energy contingency for the nation. There will be no rest until it is resolved."