Cuba in the Dark Again: The Electrical System Collapses
Cuba’s State Electric Company (UNE) reported the news in a message on its social networks.
HAVANA TIMES – Cuba’s national energy system (SEN) suffered another collapse this Wednesday. According to an urgent information line issued by the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE), the failure occurred at 9:14 AM due to the unexpected shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas, the most important in the country.
The entire island was once again left without power, though the authorities immediately assured that they were working “on the restoration from the National Load Dispatch of the Electric Company.” In another message, the state company suggested staying tuned to updates it would publish “through the official Telegram, WhatsApp, ToDus channels, as well as on the X and Facebook platforms, and the 18888 Call Center.”
Almost three hours after the system collapse, the authorities reported that the Guiteras was “ready to restart,” after “the false signal in the automatic system that caused the plant’s shutdown was resolved,” said Mario Sabines Lorenzo, first secretary of the Communist Party in Matanzas.
As in previous instances, the SEN is being reconnected through the “formation of microsystems” in different regions. “We have begun creating energy islands (the one supplying the Faustino Perez hospital is already operating) that guarantee electricity to the main hospitals in the province,” reported the Matanzas electric company, which assured that “all health institutions have energy backup and are operating normally.”
The Ministry of Tourism rushed to publish a brief statement on its social networks, attempting to convey “confidence and security” to foreign visitors—whose numbers are shrinking month by month—stating: “the majority of our hotels and tourist services have electric generators and the necessary resources to operate normally.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero declared that the government has “a well-defined strategy” to restore the SEN, in what marks the fifth total blackout in less than a year. “We are at the National Load Dispatch evaluating the causes of the event and the start of recovery,” Marrero noted on his social media.
Marrero emphasized “the professionalism of UNE workers,” which, in his opinion, will allow them “to move forward, in the shortest possible time, with the system’s restoration.”
This is the second total collapse to occur in 2025, following the one in March, which was then attributed to a “high system oscillation” caused by a substation failure.
At the end of last year, the SEN suffered three such disconnections in less than two months, plunging the country into total darkness. The one on December 4th occurred due to an “automatic trip” precisely at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, as had also happened on October 18.
Wednesday’s massive blackout came barely an hour after the UNE published its daily report, which forecast a maximum deficit of 1,720 megawatts (MW), with demand at 3,500 MW and availability at 1,780 MW, which would translate into an actual shortfall of 1,790 MW, once again surpassing half of what is needed.
The state company had not anticipated the Guiteras going offline, adding to the shutdown of other plants due to breakdowns or maintenance: two units at Renté, two at Felton, one at Nuevitas, another at the Mariel CTE, one more at Santa Cruz, and another at Carlos Manuel de Cespedes.
Just two days ago, the Ministry of Energy and Mines released a devastating report, through its director general of Electricity, Lazaro Guerra Hernandez. According to the official, speaking at a press conference, in July the daily average of hours without electricity in Cuba was 15 hours and 50 minutes. In August there was a slight improvement but still minimal: 14 hours and 54 minutes of outage.
The official figures confirm the daily suffering of Cubans, whose main current concern is the power cuts, as reflected in the most recent report from the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.