Nationwide blackout in Cuba back on October 20, 2024
Photo by ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP via Getty Images
Cuba will face simultaneous rolling blackouts throughout Thursday, affecting about 60 percent of the country during peak evening demand, the state power company Unión Eléctrica (UNE) said Thursday, one day after a major grid failure left large parts of the eastern region without electricity.
UNE said the new outages follow a partial collapse of the National Electric System on Wednesday night caused by a failure at the Holguín 220 kV substation. In a statement posted on X, the company said the incident at 8:54 p.m. "provoked the disconnection of the Electric System in the eastern zone."
🚨 Nota Informativa 🚨 pic.twitter.com/J0pQkt60I6
— Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (@OSDE_UNE) February 5, 2026
The outage fully affected the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo and partially affected Holguín, leaving about 3.4 million people without service, according to official figures reported by EFE.
Service was reconnected to the eastern provinces early Thursday, but UNE warned that generation remains well below demand. It projected available capacity of 1,270 megawatts against peak demand of 3,100 megawatts, leaving a deficit of 1,830 megawatts. The company said planned service cuts could reach 1,860 megawatts to avoid uncontrolled failures.
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Nine of the country's 16 thermoelectric generation units are currently offline due to breakdowns or maintenance, including two of the three largest plants. Thermoelectric generation typically accounts for about 40 percent of Cuba's energy mix.
UNE has not published updated figures since mid-January on how many distributed generation units are offline due to fuel and lubricant shortages, but recent reports indicate more than 1,000 megawatts of that capacity may be unavailable.
Residents in affected areas, however, described routine disruption. "The electricity went out around 5:00 pm, but as it often does, I didn't know it was something general," a Santiago de Cuba resident told AFP by phone.
Cuba has experienced repeated grid failures and daily outages exceeding 20 hours in some areas since mid-2024, driven by aging infrastructure and fuel shortages. The government attributes the crisis in part to U.S. sanctions, while independent analysts cite long-term underinvestment in the state-run energy sector and estimate that $8 billion to $10 billion would be needed to stabilize the system.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Thursday that Cuba is preparing for "acute fuel shortages" due to U.S. pressure, adding, "These, in particular, are very tough" times. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the situation could lead to humanitarian deterioration. According to his spokesperson, he is "extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation" and said it will "worsen, if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet."
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