Cuba partially restores power grid

On October 19, Reuters quoted Cuban officials as saying that part of the country's power grid had been restored on the evening of October 18 (local time) a few hours after a power outage occurred on the island nation.

Earlier, more than 10 million Cubans were left without electricity on the afternoon of October 18. Parts of the capital Havana, including several major hospitals in the city, had electricity restored by the evening of the same day.

People in La Habana try to cook using lights from their phones after the power outage on October 18. (Photo: Reuters).

Cuba's grid operator hopes to restore at least five of the country's oil-fired power plants by the evening of October 18. The plants will be back in operation to meet some of Cuba's current electricity needs.

On October 18, the Cuban government closed schools and non-essential industries, and furloughed most state workers in a last-ditch effort to maintain power supplies to the population.

Around noon that same day, Cuba's largest power plant, Antonio Guiteras, stopped working, causing a complete blackout and leaving millions of people without electricity.

The crisis has forced Cuba's non-essential services to halt. Schools at all levels, including universities, have been closed until October 20. Entertainment and cultural activities have also been ordered to close.

The Cuban government said only essential workers in the state-run food and health care sectors would be allowed to report to work on October 18.

Almost all commercial activities in the city of La Habana were closed at noon on October 18.

Cuba's electricity industry confirmed it did not know how long it would take to restore power service. The Cuban Electricity Union said the outage was unforeseen and that agencies were working to restore connections.

While demand for electricity has increased, fuel supplies in Cuba have nearly run out.

Tra Khanh (Source: Reuters)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cuba-khoi-phuc-mot-phan-he-thong-luoi-dien-ar902705.html