Despite Cuba’s efforts to restore power to the island, they were unsuccessful for a third time late on Saturday, according to Cuban authorities. This left millions of people in the dark and raised doubts about the government’s ability to reestablish electrical service.
The national electrical grid first went down around midday on Friday after the largest power plant on the island shut down. The grid collapsed again on Saturday morning, as reported by state-run media.
Authorities had made some progress in restoring power by early evening, but then announced that the grid had collapsed once more.
“Tonight at 10:25 p.m. the total disconnection of the national electro-energetic system occurred again,” the Havana Electric company said on Telegram late on Saturday.
The post was later removed from the company’s Telegram feed. It was not immediately clear why the post was removed, but millions were still without power early on Sunday.
The energy ministry of Cuba stated shortly after the Havana Electric post that they were working to reestablish service, and mentioned that “another disconnection” had occurred in the “western sub-system,” which includes the capital Havana.
“The process of reestablishing the electrical system continues to be complex,” the ministry said.
This third grid collapse is a setback in the government’s efforts to quickly restore power to residents who are already dealing with severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.
Reuters reporters witnessed two small protests overnight, one in Marianao and the other in the Cuatro Caminos area of Havana. Various videos of protests in other parts of the capital started to appear on social media late on Saturday, although their authenticity could not be verified by Reuters.
Internet traffic in Cuba dropped significantly on Saturday, according to data from internet monitoring group NetBlocks, due to widespread power outages that made it difficult for most residents to charge their phones and go online.
“Network data show that Cuba remains largely offline as the island experiences a second nationwide power outage,” Netblocks said on Saturday.
Even before the grid failures, a severe electricity shortage on Friday forced Cuba’s Communist government to send non-essential state workers home and cancel school for children in order to conserve fuel for power generation.
The government attributes the worsening blackouts – lasting up to 10 to 20 hours a day in many parts of the island – to deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages, and increased demand.
Cuba also blames the U.S. trade embargo, as well as sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump, for the ongoing challenges in obtaining fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants.
The U.S. has denied any involvement in the grid failures.