Sure! Here’s a cheeky and observant commentary on the article about the recent blackout in Cuba:
—
The Lights Are Out in Cuba: A Comedy of Errors
Ah, Cuba! Known for its vibrant culture, fantastic cigars, and… well, apparently a knack for dramatic blackouts. You know things are getting serious when the socialist sun is just chilling on the horizon while the island’s electrical system gives up, much like I do on a Friday night after too many pints!
Groundhog Day: Welcome to the Blackout Zone
Let’s break this down. The blackout that occurred last Friday isn’t just another hiccup in Cuba’s dodgy electrical saga; it’s arguably the most serious episode yet in a long-standing soap opera featuring a cast of outdated power plants and a plot that desperately needs a rewrite. It’s like watching a rerun of a terrible show where the ‘lights out’ theme keeps coming back. You might be thinking: “Not again!” Yet, here we are!
The culprit this time? The Antonio Guiteras power plant, which, let’s be honest, has seen better days. It’s been operating since 1988, and at this point, it’s about as reliable as my aunt Edith trying to use modern technology. Seriously, that plant is older than some of the bad fashion trends I’ve lived through!
Fueling the Fire: Who Needs Renewables Anyway?
According to the International Energy Agency, more than 83% of the electricity generated in Cuba is from oil and diesel. Yes, folks, you heard that right: fossil fuels galore! Cuba’s energy strategy seems to have been well thought out—right back in the 1980s. Talk about being stuck in a time warp! The island could have easily jumped on the renewable energy bandwagon, considering it has ample sunlight and wind at its disposal, but instead, it’s got its money tied up in imports from, let’s say, “friendly” nations. Venezuelan fuel, anyone?
Dear Government, It’s Time to Get Charged Up!
The government of Miguel Díaz-Canel claims to be aware that the future lies in renewables, but action speaks louder than words, my friend. You can talk about 92 photovoltaic parks until the cows come home, but until there’s actual investment, it’s just hot air — like trying to inflate a balloon with a leaky pump! What’s next? A grand plan to … yawn… draw energy from the infamous Cuban breezes? At this rate, I’d rather rely on windmills crafted by Don Quixote!
Hotels in Darkness: The Tourist Trap
Even the hotels, which the government prioritizes for foreign currency, were affected by the blackout. Those poor tourists thinking they’ve come to sip mojitos in paradise only to find their hotel having a more permanent Blackout Bingo night than expected. Imagine: “Table for two, please!” … “Right this way, how would you feel about dining by candlelight… all night long?”
The Irony of It All
Aha! The irony doesn’t end. While a few neighborhoods manage to score some electricity after protests (because who doesn’t love a good revolution with their dinner?), others remain in the dark like some mystery horror flick where the lights flicker ominously before they go out for good. Residents from Bauta and Remedios can hardly catch a break. One is stuck squeezing dirty clothes by hand—think of the Instagram opportunities lost!
“I’m cooking with an improvised charcoal stove!”, screams Lizbet Licor. “I can’t even get a wink of sleep!” And what’s a girl gotta do to get a decent meal these days? The authorities promise power will return faster than your ex’s lame excuses, but people are left wondering, is today the day they break out the candlelit dinner for one?
The Curtain Calls
Now, let’s not forget the grand finale of this ongoing saga. The government is pulling all the stops—shutting down non-essential businesses like they’re shutting off the lights in a dramatic theater ending. And the economy? Well, let’s just say it’s down more than a punch-drunk boxer!
In conclusion, dear readers, Cuba’s energy crisis is as baffling as my last family reunion. All we can do is laugh in the face of darkness, because in the end, even those who find themselves grappling with a charcoal stove will eventually get the last laugh—just not when their neighbors are still in blackout mode. Time to power up, Cuba! Or at least get a decent flashlight!
—
Stay tuned for more updates, and may your life — unlike the Cuban electrical system — always be fully charged!
The large-scale blackout suffered this Friday in Cuba is one more episode, perhaps the most serious, in a long list of incidents in one of the most deteriorated and stressed electrical systems in Latin America. Decades of lack of investment, both in generation plants and networks and an almost total dependence on fossil generation (gas and, above all, diesel and fuel oil, both imported) have made it one of the most fragile in the region. All, despite the good starting conditions (sun and wind) for the emergence of photovoltaics and wind, the two technologies that are completely changing the energy paradigm of rich countries and, also, of many emerging ones.
The largest power plant in Cuba, that of Antonio Guiteras (in the province of Matanzas, northwest), whose collapse is behind the great blackout this Friday and which had been pending in-depth maintenance for days after having been operating all summer, entered into operation at the beginning of 1988. Since then, investment in thermal power plants – which, powered by fossil fuels, continue to be the backbone of the island’s electricity generation – has been minimal. The result is none other than an obsolete system, largely of Soviet origin and with the useful life of its half dozen major plants already completed or about to be completed. Fed, for the most part, with fuel from countries friends; especially from Venezuela.
In 2022, the last year for which the International Energy Agency (IEA, the energy arm of the OECD) has datamore than 83% of electricity was generated with petroleum derivatives, especially the aforementioned imported diesel and fuel oils. Natural gas plants contributed another long 12%. And renewables—biofuels; wind, with a few parks in the “experimental” phase; hydraulic, with thirty plants connected to the national grid; and photovoltaics—are still below 5%. A minimum figure, which explains a significant part of the generation problems suffered in recent years.
Stranded in time
Added to the lack of investment in recent decades, which has left the Cuban electrical system stranded in time, is the high dependence on fossil fuels. A triple problem. First, external dependence: although the island produces crude oil, it is not enough to cover its internal consumption and it has to resort to imports, especially from Venezuela and Mexico. Second, prices: the generation of electricity with oil (and, to a lesser extent, with gas) is one of the most expensive of any modern electrical system and forces the burning of a resource as precious as foreign currency, which is scarce on the island. . Third, interruptibility: although they are capable of producing electricity 24 hours a day, an episode of fuel shortage such as the one experienced in recent weeks, in which several oil tankers have not been able to unload on the island for meteorological reasons, puts at risk Check your entire electrical system. And fourth, environmental, with a much larger carbon footprint than in other countries of its size, with a population of around 11 million people.
The Government of Miguel Díaz-Canel is aware, at least in rhetoric, that the future lies in renewables. But investment is needed, a very scarce asset on the island in recent years. Just a few months ago, in March, the Cuban authorities announced a plan to install 92 photovoltaic parks between now and 2028. They would increase, they said, the island’s generating capacity by around two gigawatts, raising the share of green energy to almost the limit. 25% of the national electricity matrix at the end of the decade.
Hotels also in darkness
Not even the hotels intended for tourism—the priority of the Cuban Government: it is its main source of foreign currency—have been able to escape the darkness of the massive blackout on October 18, which left the majority completely cut off and entire families unable to cook their food and standing in long lines to access liquefied gas.
With Cuba becoming the target of international press headlines since Friday afternoon, the situation was no better in the early hours of Saturday. The Ministry of Energy and Mines hopes to have “greater electricity coverage in the country.” Some residents of Havana confirmed that they had electricity in their homes, especially in those areas where Cubans have taken to the streets to protest the lack of this service and other basic services, such as drinking water or food. There are those, however, who still remain in the dark. And who, after seeing the supply temporarily return, have returned to darkness.
“The power came on almost at five in the morning and they took it off at six,” explains Zulema Duvergel, a resident of the Bauta municipality, southwest of Havana. He’s been trying to wash his dirty clothes for a day and a half. No success: you have not been able to start the washing machine. “I was halfway through the wash and now I have to squeeze them by hand.”
For others the situation may be worse. Lizbet Licor, from Remedios, Villa Clara, in the center of the Island, has been without electricity for just 36 hours. “They put it on for two hours, it left again and we still don’t have any,” he points out. “I am cooking with an improvised charcoal stove, going through a thousand jobs, without water in the tank. “I haven’t been able to rest for three nights.” He also says that the unrest led some neighbors to break the windows of a town store to demand that the authorities restore the service.
The Cuban Government insists that it will not be past Saturday for the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant to return to operation. Some microelectric generation systems have already begun to provide electricity to scattered municipalities or neighborhoods in the country. However, it is still uncertain when the island’s authorities will be able to guarantee a service that did not have a momentary failure this Friday, but rather has kept Cubans under constant blackouts for some time.
Díaz-Canel said that “they are working hard and tirelessly to recover the electrical system.” And that the Executive gives “absolute priority” to the solution “of this highly sensitive energy contingency for the nation.”
like two years ago
The situation of the last few hours is reminiscent of that experienced just over two years ago, at the end of September 2022, when the passage of Hurricane Ian left the island in a situation of “zero production.” Exactly the same as this Friday. In between, an endless number of partial blackouts, daily comings and goings in the electricity supply in various areas of the country that have weighed down an economy at minimum levels – the Cuban GDP fell 1.9% last year and points to a weak growth of 0, 5% this, according to the latest projections of ECLAC, the economic arm of the UN for Latin America and the Caribbean—and that have fueled social discontent and protests.
In Havana, usually the last link in the chain of blackouts due to its status as the capital, they had been without light for several days with at least six hours a day. Periods that, in municipalities with a smaller population, were already around 20 hours a day. After the national blackout, the island’s Government has paralyzed “all work activities” outside of those “strictly essential”, with its consequent economic impact. It has also decreed the disconnection of the network from the premises that are empty, as well as the shutdown of high-consumption equipment (ovens and refrigerators, among others) during peak consumption hours.
Subscribe here to the newsletter of THE COUNTRY America and receive all the key information on current events in the region.