Sun sets over Havana as country faces latest blackout

Record ID: 1983902

  • Title: Sun sets over Havana as country faces latest blackout
  • Date: 16th March 2025
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (MARCH 15, 2025) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) (MUTE) TIME LAPSE OF SUNSET OVER CITY BUILDINGS WITHOUT POWER DURING SUNSET CARS DRIVING IN ALMOST DARK STREET HOTEL WITH LIGHTS ON DARK BUILDINGS DURING SUNSET U.S. EMBASSY BUILDING WITH LIGHTS ON, U.S. FLAG FLYING DARK BUILDINGS DURING SUNSET GOVERNMENT BUILDING POWERED BY GENERATOR VEHICLE HEADLIGHTS ILLUMINATING STR
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Cuba Havana Sunset blackout grid system
  • Location: HAVANA, CUBA
  • City: HAVANA, CUBA
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001914316032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Havana on Saturday (March 15) remained mostly without power as night fell, due to a collapse on Cuba’s electric grid the night before, knocking out electricity for 10 million people and raising fresh questions about the viability of its antiquated generating system.
    Only a few buildings, such as hotels, Cuban government buildings and the U.S. Embassy had light. The dark streets were mostly illuminated by the headlights of cars driving by.
    Cuba’s grid failed Friday (March 14) evening around 8:15 p.m. (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.
    Officials said on Saturday morning they had begun the process of firing up the country's decades-old generation plants, but gave no timeline for restoring service.
    (Production: Alien Fernandez, Anett Rios, Mario Fuentes, Nina Lopez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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