Cuba entered a third day without electricity after another outage Saturday evening set back efforts to restore power on the island, underscoring the challenges posed by decades-old, poorly maintained infrastructure.

Cuba’s electrical grid went offline after one of the island’s major power plant failed, the energy ministry said.

Cuba’s electrical grid shut down on Friday, putting the country into a blackout after the failure of one of the island’s major power plants, according to its energy ministry.

Many of Cuba’s power plants are outdated and inefficient; some have been in operation for over 50 years without proper maintenance. After the country’s grid collapsed when hurricane Ian hit in 2022, experts warned the government needed to urgently invest in modernizing the system.

Many Cubans are waiting in anguish as electricity on much of the island has yet to be totally restored after days of blackout

A massive outage left millions of Cubans without power and prompted the government Friday to implement emergency measures to slash demand, including suspending classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling non-essential services.

A growing energy crisis reached a crescendo Friday, as the country’s main power plant suddenly shut down, cutting off electricity to millions of Cubans.

Cuba's efforts to restore power to the island were derailed for a third time late on Saturday, Cuban authorities said shortly before midnight, leaving millions in the dark and raising fresh questions over the viability of the government's bid to reestablish electrical service.

After electricity was partially restored in Cuba following an island-wide blackout, the electrical grid collapsed a second time, causing widespread alarm. Journalist Ed Augustin told NBC News that while power is gradually being restored in some areas,

Cuba was struggling to restore electricity nationwide on Saturday, more than 24 hours after the failure of one of its largest power plants knocked the entire grid off-line.