Cuba Faces Unprecedented Power Outages: Up to 70% of the Country Left in the Dark

This Thursday, Cuba is experiencing one of its worst energy crises in decades following a partial breakdown of the National Electric System (SEN), which has plunged a significant portion of the nation into darkness. This was confirmed by the Electric Union in its information release dated May 14.

The failure began at 6:09 a.m., shortly after the country's largest power plant, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, shut down at 4:58 a.m. due to a boiler leak. This marks the ninth malfunction of the plant in 2026 alone.

By 6:30 a.m., the SEN's available capacity had dwindled to a mere 636 MW, while the demand reached 2,420 MW, leaving 1,790 MW of demand unmet, which is 74% of the total demand.

The outlook for the evening peak is dire, with only 976 MW available against a demand of 3,150 MW, leading to an estimated shortfall of 2,204 MW. This projection means power outages lasting between 20 to 22 hours daily, with total blackouts expected across the eastern region, affecting approximately 70% of the Cuban population.

This projected shortfall surpasses the 2,153 MW deficit recorded on Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m., which had already broken the previous record of 2,075 MW on March 6, 2026.

In Havana, the power was out for the entire 24 hours on Wednesday, with a maximum disruption of 499 MW at 9:30 p.m. The six emergency blocks and circuits — totaling 419 MW — had no scheduled restoration time at the time of the Electric Company's report.

Power reconnections in the provinces progressed gradually: Ciego de Ávila rejoined the SEN at 8:16 a.m., Camagüey at 9:19 a.m., and Las Tunas at 9:50 a.m., while other areas were operating with isolated microsystems.

Román Pérez Castañeda, the director of the Guiteras plant, explained that the malfunction involved a "loss of water in the boiler to a degree that prevented safe continued generation," and repairs are expected to take three to four days.

The same issue had already halted the plant on May 5, just four days before it was resynchronized with the SEN on May 9 after a 90-hour shutdown and nearly 300 corrective measures.

This crisis comes during the worst fuel shortage in recent Cuban history. Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy publicly admitted on Wednesday that the country is "completely out of fuel, diesel, only companion gas," describing the situation as "acute, critical, and extremely tense."

Venezuela halted its oil shipments in November 2025, and Mexico drastically reduced its supplies in January 2026, leaving Cuba without a fuel shipment for nearly four months.

A Russian donation of 100,000 tons of crude oil, which arrived on March 31, was depleted by early May.

The Guiteras plant has not undergone major maintenance in over 15 years, with the last overhaul in 2010, requiring at least 180 days of downtime for comprehensive repairs. Pérez Castañeda acknowledged, "the country's situation still doesn't allow for it," trapped in a cycle he summarized as: "We avoid stopping unless necessary, to not disrupt generation."

A second Russian tanker carrying 270,000 barrels of diesel was 1,600 km away from Cuba, with an estimated arrival on May 16, though with no final confirmation, representing the only short-term relief prospect for a population enduring unprecedented blackouts for months.