Recent national blackouts culminate in Cuba’s power grid collapse, affecting millions.
The failure occurred on Friday around 8:15pm (00:15 GMT) following a malfunction at the Diezmero substation in Havana, triggering a sequence of events that led to the cessation of power generation nationwide, according to Union Electrica (UNE), the grid operator.
By Saturday morning, only minimal power was being generated, approximately 225 MW, which is less than 10% of the total demand. Despite this, authorities have managed to provide electricity to critical facilities, such as hospitals, through parallel circuits.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel reported on X that “parallel circuits and generator units are being synchronized” with the national grid in various provinces.
Cuba had already experienced three nationwide blackouts in the closing months of 2024, with two of those lasting for several days. This most recent blackout occurs amid one of the severest economic crises the island has faced in three decades. Years of reliance on subsidized Venezuelan oil, which is becoming increasingly unreliable due to Venezuela’s own economic issues, have exacerbated the situation further.
“Right now, no one knows when the power will come back on,” a resident of Havana, Abel Bonne, told Reuters early on Saturday.
Havana’s inhabitants have been dealing with almost daily power cuts of four to five hours, while those outside the capital have been subjected to rotating outages lasting up to 20 hours a day recently.
“My God, this is terrible. We’re in for a dark weekend,” expressed Karen Gutierrez, a 32-year-old ice cream vendor in Havana, to AFP.
Andres Lopez, a 67-year-old resident of Holguin in the eastern province, shared his frustration, saying he hadn’t anticipated another blackout so soon and wondered when power would be restored.
Cuba attributes its economic struggles to the longstanding US trade embargo and subsequent sanctions, which complicate not only financial transactions but also the acquisition of essential goods like fuel and spare parts.
US President Donald Trump has tightened these sanctions, committing to a “tough” policy towards the communist-run government.
To mitigate the current electricity shortages, Cuba is in a push to install at least 55 solar farms equipped with Chinese technology by the end of the year.
These solar facilities are expected to generate 1,200 MW of power, accounting for roughly 12% of the nation’s total power capacity.
