Cuba's electrical grid collapses in nationwide blackout

Havana: Communist Cuba's national power grid collapsed for the fourth time in less than a year on Wednesday morning causing a nationwide blackout, authorities said.

"There has been a total disconnection of the Electric System, SEN, which may be associated with an unexpected outage of the (thermal power plant) CTE Guiteras," the Energy Ministry and National Electric Union said.

The grid operator pointed to 9.14 a.m. (1314 GMT) as the time when the grid collapsed in the Caribbean island.

The ministry signaled that causes are being investigated and that the restoration process has already begun.

Even before Wednesday's grid collapse, many across the island had already been experiencing daily blackouts that reached 16 hours or more.

The grid failure follows a string of nationwide blackouts late last year that plunged Cuba's frail and antiquated power generation system into near-total disarray.

The country has also being facing fuel shortages, natural disasters and an economic crisis.

Cuba's oil-fired power plants, already obsolete and struggling to keep the lights on, reached a full crisis last year as oil imports from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled.