Economy, Energy

From its low points in 1993 and 1994, the energy sector grew about 5 percent by 1995. Domestic oil and coal production increased, and petroleum imports, which accounted for 80 percent of the total supply, increased by 2 percent. About 92 percent of residential dwellings have working electricity, but blackouts caused by old equipment and scarce fuel supplies occur with some frequency. As a remedy for the country’s fuel deficiency, the government has invited foreign investors to finance the Juragua nuclear power plant, which the USSR began constructing in Cienfuegos in 1988. Construction came to a halt in 1992 after the USSR collapsed.