HOW WILL SHERRITT BE IMPACTEDA Breakdown of Cuba’s Grid Collapse and Recovery Efforts
Cuba is in the throes of a severe energy crisis, driven by fuel supply disruptions and compounded by obstacles in securing vital technologies and supplies needed to modernize and operate its aging power plants. The situation, exacerbated by U.S. sanctions, has left the nation’s energy system teetering. At the same time, the island nation is grappling with recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Oscar, which ravaged the eastern region, leaving seven dead and devastating infrastructure across four municipalities in Guantnamo province.
The country’s power grid collapsed on Friday, Oct. 18, due to the failure of one of the island’s largest thermal power plants—the 330-MW Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas province—hours after the island suffered its biggest power outage in two years on the night of Oct. 17. The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) reported in a message on X that the National Electric System (SEN) at 11 a.m. was “completely disconnected” following the unexpected shutdown of the oil-fired power plant.