Cuba Faces Fifth Nationwide Blackout in Under a Year

On Wednesday, Cuba experienced its fifth nationwide blackout in less than a year, starkly highlighting the fragility of the National Electric System (SEN) and the regime's inability to resolve a crisis that disrupts the daily lives of millions. The pattern of recent collapses is telling:

On October 18, 2024, a general blackout occurred due to a malfunction at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas. On November 6, 2024, the entire SEN collapsed during Hurricane Rafael, as strong winds disconnected the system. Another nationwide outage took place on December 4, 2024, due to another failure at the Guiteras plant. The system collapsed again on March 14, 2025, due to a fault at the Diezmero substation in Havana, caused by high system oscillation. The most recent outage on September 10, 2025, followed the unexpected shutdown of the Guiteras plant.

The latest outage occurred at 9:14 am on Wednesday when the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, Cuba's largest and most crucial, unexpectedly went offline, causing a total system collapse. The Electric Union (UNE) confirmed the incident in a Facebook post, stating, "9:14 am. National Electric System collapse after the unexpected shutdown of the CTE Antonio Guiteras. We will continue to provide updates."

Chain Reactions and Regional Blackouts

This recent blackout came just days after another significant event primarily affecting the eastern part of the country. On September 7, a failure in the 220 kV Nuevitas-Tunas line caused a complete disconnection of the electric system from Las Tunas to Guantánamo, leaving millions without power. The UNE attributed this collapse to adverse weather conditions and low power generation in the region, which even impacted unit 6 of the Mariel thermoelectric plant in the west.

Havana also suffered a widespread blackout in August due to a major fault at the Naranjito substation, impacting other critical facilities and affecting 14 out of 15 municipalities in the capital. This was the second blackout in less than a month, as on July 17, the city was nearly plunged into darkness, reportedly due to a lightning strike that triggered the shutdown of multiple high-voltage substations, disconnecting key areas.

Endless Power Outages

These incidents add to a summer marked by increasingly prolonged outages, reflecting the profound and structural deterioration of Cuba's energy system. On August 5, the UNE reported a deficit exceeding 2,000 MW, one of the year's worst peaks, which left the country nearly in complete darkness. By early September, the state company acknowledged the system was operating under "critical instability," with capacity far below demand and several thermoelectric plants offline.

UNE's leadership has attempted to justify the crisis by stating that most plants have been in operation for over 40 years without receiving major maintenance. UNE's General Director, Alfredo López Valdés, admitted that repairs are plagued by improvisations and delays due to a lack of funding and revealed the existence of "hidden defects" in components purchased in 2019 and 2020.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mines continues to promote new solar projects and battery systems worth a billion dollars, a strategy that contrasts sharply with the reality of ongoing blackouts and chronic dependence on outdated thermal plants lacking spare parts.

On Tuesday, the government acknowledged the "harsh" state of the electric system and that the Antonio Guiteras plant will need to shut down in the coming months for maintenance, foretelling further disruptions. These statements underscore the regime's failure to fulfill its promise to alleviate blackouts during the summer and reduce them to "only" four hours daily. According to officials, the crisis stems from generation deficits, lack of funding, and technological obsolescence.

Many Cubans express their frustration on social media in response to UNE's official updates, repeating the phrase, "Better not turn it back on." The public outrage is palpable, as comments reflect exhaustion, hopelessness, and demands for change while enduring daily power cuts without a solution in sight.

"This has become a psychological torture where humans have lost the will to live, work, and even breathe," commented a user from Matanzas. Many question the lack of real solutions. "What needs to be stopped is not the Guiteras plant, but the inept leaders managing it," another user remarked. "It's no longer living; it's surviving. They might as well execute us because this is not life," added another.

A Structural Crisis

Far from being an isolated incident, the succession of nationwide blackouts highlights the regime's inability to ensure a stable power supply. While officials promise solutions and talk about technical investigations, the reality is that the country relies on an outdated thermoelectric infrastructure with inadequate maintenance and no long-term investments.

Cuba's energy crisis has become a symbol of the systemic deterioration under state control. For the population, each blackout means the loss of food, damaged appliances, and digital disconnection in a country already marked by isolation. With five nationwide blackouts since 2024, Cubans face a bitter truth: the regime fails to turn on the lights both literally and politically.