Cubans Invent Solutions in the Face Prolonged Blackouts

during another national power outage lasting more than 24 Hours

From the increasingly common charcoal stoves to homemade wind turbines, people have turned to ingenuity to get through the crisis.

By Miguel García & Mercedes García (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – “I had to use my electric tricycle to charge my child’s fans,” says Omar from Holguín, who spent the night juggling solutions so his son could sleep during the nationwide blackout. He adds that it’s the same method he’s used on other occasions when outages drag on. The “invention,” which uses the cord of the multipurpose crock pot he cooks with, has saved him from sleepless nights caused by the heat or mosquito bites.

A day after Cuba plunged into yet another total blackout, with areas still disconnected from the National Electric System (SEN), the State Electric Company is patting itself on the back: “The country went from a total blackout (0 MW) to 1,000 MW in less than 24 hours.” The reality for Cubans, however, is not so optimistic. The country is generating less than a third of the electricity needed at peak demand, and once again they’ve had to rely on their “inventions.”

According to the latest update shared on the state company’s social media, “the system is advancing toward national unification, linking the West and Center with the East.” Authorities add that the goal is to connect the two systems created during the night (between Mariel and Matanzas, and between Matanzas and Camagüey) to each other and to the rest of the country. During the course of the day, they hope, the grid should return to “normal”—though even that “normality” includes long outages.

Meanwhile, to get through Wednesday night and Thursday without power, Cubans turned to their usual methods to cover basic needs—such as cooking with charcoal—but also resorted to inventive solutions.

In Cienfuegos, where many residents already had electricity this morning thanks to the system between Matanzas and Camagüey, the national blackout forced families to roll out their best contraptions. By far, the prize goes to homemade wind turbines, which Cubans have built to generate some electricity during outages.

“The wind turbines compete with solar panels, and I’ve seen a lot of people studying the method to install them. I focused on setting up my solar panels because they’re easier to connect. Wind turbines require a bit more ingenuity,” Guillermo from that province tells 14ymedio.

“I’ve managed to see some already built up close and others under construction, and the blades are made of anything, but the most common are pieces of water tanks and plastic. You pick what works best. The hardest part is the motor. People use ones from air conditioners—not the wall units, but the modern split systems,” he explains. Car alternators, he adds, are another common option.

With a system of pulleys and gears, a regulator box like the ones for solar panels, and the blades, “any little breeze makes electricity.” The advantage over photovoltaic energy, he says, “is that when the sun goes down, you can still generate power”—and last night, Cienfuegos residents made good use of them.

The challenge, on the other hand, is finding an expert who knows how to assemble the pulley system and a skilled welder to install the prism-shaped base. If not done properly, he warns, “a strong gust of wind can rip the wind turbine away.”

Even so, there are situations in Cuba that ingenuity cannot overcome—such as medical care, transportation, or food preservation, with groceries quickly spoiling without refrigeration in the heat.

In the capital—where, according to the Electric Company, “there’s a risk of losing progress made” on reconnection—Mariana decided minutes after the collapse was announced Wednesday that she wouldn’t open the refrigerator again. This morning, when Havana—always prioritized in energy crises—recovered part of the service, she finally checked whether the meat she had stored was still good. Yet just a few hours later, at 8:30 a.m., the power went out again.

What Mariana regrets most, however, is not the flickering service but missing her ophthalmology appointment. “The first thing I thought was that I’d lost my turn with the eye doctor after so much effort to get it. This morning, when the power came back, I thought maybe it wasn’t canceled and went to the clinic, but in the end, it didn’t happen,” she laments.

Like her, other patients hoped the center, located in Plaza de la Revolución municipality, would continue operating normally but left disappointed. “There’s widespread anger,” one assures.

In Sancti Spíritus, Julia’s headache is transportation. “After the system collapsed, the remaining yellow electric buses stopped picking up passengers because they had to return to their garages. Now there’s no way to charge them,” she says, lamenting the impossibility of getting around the city.

Residents of Sancti Spíritus, she recalls, spent Wednesday afternoon sitting on their porches or chatting on the sidewalks—a rare sight in a city that often feels “abandoned.” The most desperate, she says, “went around frantically asking for two or three coals to cook with because this caught them off guard, and the only places with power in the city were the hospitals and pediatric clinic.”

With the nationwide blackout, “the first thing I did was run to get drinking water before the supply in my rooftop tanks ran out. When I got to the collection point, there was a line like I’d never seen before. The same thing happened with the bagged bread rolls  sold near my house,” she recalls. Now selling for 280 pesos instead of the usual 180, fear that production will stop in the coming days has driven up the price.

Meanwhile, the authorities have limited themselves to managing the school calendar, canceling classes in some provinces until next week. On social media, the University of Havana announced Thursday that it would reinstate the “protection system for times of energy contingency,” a measure requiring students and staff to take turns guarding the campus.

The order, the post makes clear, is to “save water and gas.” As for communications—backed by a generator—they will be minimal.

At the same time, the entire country is waiting for the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant to restart—the very one that caused the national electric system to collapse, and at the same time the main hope for its recovery.

First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.