Cuba has restored its national electricity grid after a widespread blackout left the island without power, according to state authorities.
The National Electric Union said technicians reconnected the transmission network on Saturday evening at 7:56 p.m. local time. During the restoration process, solar photovoltaic generation reached 985 megawatt-hours, although output was lower than in previous days because of grid reconnection procedures.
By Sunday morning, electricity generation had reached 1,160 megawatts, while demand stood at 2,673 megawatts. This resulted in a shortfall affecting around 1,510 megawatts of electricity consumption.
Officials expect evening demand to rise to about 3,200 megawatts, compared with only 1,160 megawatts of available generation capacity. This could create a deficit of approximately 2,040 megawatts during peak hours and leave about 2,070 megawatts of consumption affected.
The state utility said several major thermoelectric plants remain affected by equipment failures and boiler problems. These include units at the Mariel, Guiteras, Felton and Rente power stations. Planned maintenance has also taken generating units at Santa Cruz, Nuevitas and Rente offline.
Cuba has faced repeated power disruptions, fuel shortages and generation problems for years. The government attributes the crisis to ageing infrastructure and US economic restrictions, which it says have limited access to fuel imports, essential spare parts and foreign investment.
NEWS DESK
PRESS UPDATE