Cuba’s power grid collapsed early Wednesday, causing a nationwide blackout, the third such incident in the past two months, according to government officials.
The outage began at 2:08 am when the Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant failed, disconnecting the country’s electrical system, the Ministry of Energy and Mines confirmed via social media.
Efforts to restore power are underway, the statement noted.
This latest power failure follows a major blackout in mid-October, which caused widespread disruption, particularly in the capital Havana.
During that time, schools closed, public transportation halted, and traffic lights were out of order.
Both this week’s and October’s blackouts were linked to issues at the Antonio Guiteras plant, Cuba’s largest coal-fired power plant.
Though power was largely restored in the following week, the situation worsened in early November when Hurricane Rafael struck, further damaging the grid and plunging the nation into darkness once again.