Cuba still largely without power after nationwide grid collapse

• 10 million people in Cuba without electricity in outage. 
• Power available for hospitals, water supply and food centres. 
• Process of firing up decades-old generation plant begins.

HAVANA: Cuba remained largely without power on Saturday morning after the island's grid collapsed the night before, knocking out electricity for 10 million people and raising fresh questions about the viability of its antiquated generating system.

At sunrise, the island's grid operator UNE said it was generating only a trickle of electricity — around 225 MW, or less than 10% of total demand, enough to cover some vital services like hospitals, water supply and food production centres.

Officials said they had begun the process of firing up the country's decades-old generation plants, but gave no timeline for restoring service.

Cuba's grid failed Friday evening around 8:15pm (0015 GMT) after an aging component of a transmission line at a substation in Havana shorted, beginning a chain reaction that completely shut down power generation across the island, UNE officials said.

The grid collapse follows a string of nationwide blackouts late last year that plunged Cuba's frail power generating system into near-total disarray, stressed by fuel shortages, natural disaster and economic crisis.

Most Cubans outside the capital Havana have already been living for months with rolling blackouts that peaked at 20 hours a day in recent weeks.

Havana was still largely without electricity on Saturday morning. Light traffic navigated intersections with no functioning stoplights and cellular internet was weak or non-existent in some areas.

Abel Bonne chatted with friends on Havana's Malecon waterfront boulevard early Saturday, taking in the fresh sea breeze after a stuffy night without power.

"Right now, no one knows when the power will come back on," he said. "This is the first time this had happened this year, but last year it happened three times."

Severe shortages of food, medicine and water have made life increasingly unbearable for many Cubans, and people have been fleeing the island in recent years in record-breaking numbers.

Cuba blames its economic woes on a Cold War-era US trade embargo, a web of laws and regulations that complicate financial transactions and the acquisition of essentials like fuel and spare parts.

A grid official on Saturday morning said Cuba had been unable to update antiquated transmission and generation components because of the restrictions.

US President Donald Trump recently tightened sanctions on the island's communist-run government, vowing to restore a "tough" policy toward the long-time US foe.

Havana resident Yunior Reyes, a bike taxi driver, was back on the job Saturday morning despite the blackout, fretting that his food reserves might spoil in the day's heat.

“We're all in the same situation," he said. "It's a lot of work."