Second blackout leaves millions in the dark in Cuba

Havana., For the second consecutive day, a widespread blackout hit Cuba yesterday morning, leaving millions of people, establishments, offices and work centers without electricity, in a new episode in the energy crisis aggravated by the lack of fuel and the poor condition of thermoelectric plants.

At 5 in the afternoon, electricity was restored to 16 percent of consumers, reported the general director of the Electrical Union (UNE), Alfredo López Valdés, in a meeting headed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The presidency also reported that about 500 megawatts are generatedwhile working to protect the inhabitants and vital material goods, in the face of the imminent hurricane Oscar”, which is expected to hit the island with category 1.

The government stated that the energy situation is addressed of the island.

When the country was left without electricity yesterday, a day after a breakdown in the main thermoelectric plant on the island caused the network to go down due to total disconnection of the national electrical systemAccording to the Cubadebate news portal, the news aggravated the discomfort of Cubans who were barely able to sleep in hot conditions without fans.

The situation is very difficult, but I try to stay calm, because there is already too much stress in this country.declared Yaima Valladares, a 28-year-old dancer.

“We had not experienced a situation like this. It’s hard to describe after so many hours without electricity.

On top of that, there is a liquefied gas crisis, there is no way to cook food, in addition to the heat, the mosquitoes, the lack of connectivity, in short, everything is very ugly.said a resident of the Playa municipality, located in Havana.

There isn’t much in the refrigerator, but I think by tomorrow everything will be thawed and spoiled.said Daniel, a public employee in the city of Santa Clara.

Isabel Rodríguez, a 72-year-old housewife, complains about the adversity of living: How are our lives not going to get tangled up, if we have nothing, not even the water engines can start?said.

In the morning, the UNE reported the new blackout that once again left the island without electricity supply and that frustrated attempts to launch an electricity system. islands for the restoration of the blackout recorded on Friday.

“At 6:15 in the morning a new total blackout of the national electricity system occurred (…) The Electrical Union is working to restore it,” he explained.

Díaz-Canel assured in his account on the social platform strong and without rest to recover the electrical fluid, by priorities, in order to achieve stability. The wisdom and poise of those who star in these complex hours, many of them young, is admirable..

Alternative in progress for generating plants

The director of the UNE, dependent on the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba, Lázaro Guerra, explained that to synchronize each of the thermal units, microsystems (islands) were launched with the distributed generation groups of the territories, which would carry energy to thermoelectric plants and the generating sets close to the thermal blocks would be prioritized.

At 10:48 in the morning, the restoration of electrical service in Havana began, reported the Provincial Load Office of the Havana Electric Company.

After 30 hours from zero generation in which the Cuban Electro-Energy System fell, after 5 in the afternoon yesterday it was possible to establish electrical current to 16 percent of the consumers, López Valdés informed President Díaz Canel, in a meeting on the matter, the newspaper reported. Granma.

Guerra warned that achieving that supply percentage was not easy, since system operation remains unstableeven though fuel availability has been improving in recent hours, compared to the situation at the beginning of the week.

López Valdés stated that managed to raise the connection to electricity in each region of the national territory, which has not been free of complexities that have prevented a total restoration.

He explained that subsystems have been established in all places, although in the last few hours the one in Matanzas failed.

In Havana, he explained, 23.57 percent of the clients already have electricity and said that in the early morning all the patanas, which are floating electricity generation plants, located in this province, must be incorporated into the generation and thus strengthen the system.

The Mariel blocks are ready to be incorporated starting this Sunday, he stated. Which means that 52 of the 330 circuits that exist in the province have been restored.

Hospitals and part of the water supply points are located in the aforementioned area, the authority explained. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, reported that in the eastern region it was explained that – even though some units had been synchronized – it could become more complex with the possible impact of the hurricane. Oscar, and specified that Santiago de Cuba is the province most affected by the lack of electrical energy.

The official forecast was that by early morning the Mariel, Havana, Energás, which is the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant, and Santa Cruz would be generating energy. There would be, he stressed, about 900 megawatts available to reconnect more locations on the island.