Cuba Partially Restores Power After 32-Hour Blackout... Seventh This Year

[Financial News] Cuba, which has been suffering from power shortages caused by fuel shortages following a U.S. oil blockade this year, partially restored power about 32 hours after a major blackout began on the 18th (local time).
According to the Spanish-language outlet Infobae on the 20th, the Cuban Electric Union (UNE) restored the power grid at 7:56 p.m. on the 19th, 32 hours after the outage began.
However, power generation stood at 1,160 megawatts (MW), less than half of the 2,673 MW demanded in the early morning. It was also reported to be 2,040 MW short of the 3,200 MW demand during the evening.
Earlier, Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said on social media on the 18th, "The national power grid has been completely shut down," adding, "Restoration procedures are underway." According to the UNE, the blackout was caused by a transmission-line failure and intensified when power supplies were cut across the central-western stretch from Pinar del Río to Matanzas.
The collapse of Cuba’s power grid is the seventh such incident this year. The grid has failed five times since July alone, particularly as energy demand surged during the summer. Cuba was already facing serious problems caused by aging power infrastructure, and it has struggled to generate electricity since the United States attacked Venezuela in January and cut off oil supplies to Cuba.
The United States is intensifying sanctions against Cuba. On the 17th, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated eight Cuban companies linked to nickel mining and the military-industrial complex, along with three military officials, as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs). U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "The Trump administration will not stand by while Cuban elites accumulate wealth by extracting resources and stockpile resources for Cuba’s repressive security apparatus as the Cuban people struggle in deprivation."
 
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