Most of Cuba hit by power outages: minister

[El Presidente]

 

https://insiderpaper.com/most-of-cuba-hit-by-power-outages-minister/

Most of Cuba hit by power outages: minister

AFP

March 17, 2024 6:50 am

Source: Pixabay

Large swathes of Cuba including the capital have been hit by power outages, authorities said, as the country grapples with a dire economic crisis.

“Almost the whole country has been affected since yesterday at 23:00 (03:00 GMT Saturday), including Havana,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state television.

“There have been areas in the dark since the early hours of the morning,” and this has lasted “practically all day in almost the whole country,” he added.

Cuba has been experiencing a wave of blackouts since the start of March due to maintenance works on the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the island’s largest.

Authorities have promised that the plant, located about 100 kilometers from the capital, will be fully operational again on Sunday.

This weekend, the situation was worsened by a shortage of fuel needed to generate the electricity.

The cash-strapped island nation imposed a more-than 400 percent fuel price hike earlier this month as part of an economic recovery plan.

De la O Levy said that “the situation will improve” somewhat, but that power supplies “will continue to be strained” due to Cuba’s financial hardships in importing oil.

The nation of 11 million is experiencing its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the 1990s due to fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the tightening of US sanctions in recent years and structural weaknesses in the economy.

According to official estimates, the Cuban economy shrank by two percent in 2023, while inflation reached 30 percent. Independent experts say this is likely an underestimation.

There are chronic shortages of fuel and other basics, and the government subsidizes almost all of the goods and services consumed by Cubans.

[ha_banos]

I'm trying to find the recipe for how my grandparents would have preserved pork in it's fat back in the village in the old days, pre electric. I'll ask my mum.

[Odessa]

"authorities said, as the country grapples with a dire economic crisis".

What else can you expect from the communist or socialist government?..

[KarlJ]

I’m not all to familiar with energy alternatives, but how viable would wind turbines and solar be to supplement their grid?

[Odessa]

4 hours ago, KarlJ said:

 how viable would wind turbines and solar be to supplement their grid?

ABBA:

"I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay (hard working farmers and other Cuban people)
...
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me" (because all the money are stolen by the government to live a luxury life instead of investing to take care of ordinary people).

So, where to get the money from to investment in technology?..

[VeguerosMAN]

Pinar only gets 3 hours of power per day.  Last night, they had power from 2 am to 5 am ( my Cuban girl's family house). They are without power now but managed to brew coffee in Pinar. Also, cooking without electricity. 

[VeguerosMAN]

Just curious whether hotels, air BNBs, and resorts are out of power as well in Cuba or only the locals are affected. 

[KarlJ]

On 3/18/2024 at 8:24 AM, Odessa said:

ABBA:

"I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay (hard working farmers and other Cuban people)
...
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me" (because all the money are stolen by the government to live a luxury life instead of investing to take care of ordinary people).

So, where to get the money from to investment in technology?..

Good question.

Assuming that the cost of that infrastructure paid out in terms of a reliable energy source viable enough to meet the demand of the county, it would save them the cost of foreign oil to power their grid.  

I admit I’m making assumptions. I honestly don’t understand enough about the technology to know how effective that infrastructure would be for the demand of Cuba. Could such an infrastructure eliminate the need for oil to generate electric?  Or is it only effective enough to supplement the grid? Someone more knowledgeable than myself could probably answer that. As far as start up cost go, Cuba isn’t likely in a position to self fund it. But I’d imagine they get the funding from China, Russia etc. I don’t know what that would look like, maybe a loan? Or a partnership/lease for “clean” energy?

It appears they’re over a barrel either way. It’s either depend on foreign oil to power a failing infrastructure. Or foreign investment into a new energy infrastructure.  My guess it that they’ll stick with the former and grin & bear it.