Lightning causes blackout in Varadero: The electric company of Matanzas resolves it "in a few minutes."

A supposed electrical discharge caused a massive blackout this Sunday in the Cuban resort of Varadero, which was left completely in the dark. However, the electric company of Matanzas managed to fix it "in a few minutes."

This is how the official journalist José Miguel Solís reported it on his social media, referring to the information provided via Telegram by the state company responsible for the service in the renowned tourist area.

"110 kv line shot in Varadero, as a consequence of an atmospheric electrical discharge. The service was restored in a few minutes, as reported by the Telegram channel of the electric company of Matanzas," Solís said in a Facebook post.

The speed of the actions taken by the state company workers to restore the electricity supply in Varadero contrasts with the time it usually takes to repair breakdowns caused in electrical circuits by weather events in the rest of the country.

At the end of September last year, a lightning strike in Santa Clara caused damage to an electrical substation that left several electric circuits in the capital of Villa Clara without supply.

The incident was reported on social media by the officialist journalist Henry Omar Pérez, who attributed the massive blackout to "a thunder" caused by storms that brought precipitation and electrical activity to the center of the country.

"Due to a thunderstorm, a failure occurred at the Gran Panel Substation in our city. There is a large group of affected circuits. Joint forces are working to resolve the issue promptly," reported the communicator.

The information provided did not specify the number of circuits or households affected by an incident that left the impacted users without electricity for hours.

In July 2023, experts and executives from the Unión Eléctrica (UNE) of Cuba noted the recurring nature of electrical discharges throughout this year, with intensities greater than those reported in previous summers.

According to the criteria of Eleazar Moreno Ricardo, director of Networks of the UNE, the frequency and intensity of the last storm season caused malfunctions in the systems, "even when they have protection systems, which are maintained at the appropriate time."

"We need to review our systems to see what else we can do to prepare for these times that are... greater than those we usually face," said Moreno Ricardo under the watchful eye of the head of the National Civil Defense General Staff, division general Ramón Pardo Guerra.

As the tourist destination par excellence of the Cuban regime, power outages in Varadero are extremely rare. The connection to the national electric power system (SEN) of the resort is reinforced by the private electricity supply it receives from the Energás Varadero plant.

In September 2022, after the massive blackout that left the entire Island in darkness, the circuit that supplies electrical power to Varadero struggled to be restored due to the technical problems caused at this plant by the total collapse of the SEN.