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The National Electric System (SEN) is experiencing one of the worst days of the year this Tuesday, November 18, 2025, with a generation deficit exceeding 1,700 megawatts (MW), as confirmed by the in its official report.
The total system availability at 6:00 a.m. was 1,390 MW, compared to a demand of 2,270 MW, resulting in 904 MW of immediate impact. For the midday period, UNE estimated 950 MW out of service, and during the nighttime peak, the deficit will reach 1,665 MW, with anticipated impacts of 1,735 MW, leaving nearly half of the country without electricity.
The Electric Company of Havana confirmed that the capital is also experiencing scheduled outages. On Monday, November 17th, the service was interrupted from 2:00 p.m. to 1:43 a.m., with a maximum impact of 270 MW. Local authorities published a new scheduling of blackouts that will extend from this Tuesday until the early hours of Wednesday, November 19th, depending on "the demands of the SEN."
According to the UNE report, the crisis is worsened by simultaneous failures in five thermoelectric units —units 3, 5, and 6 of the Antonio Maceo CTE in Santiago de Cuba, unit 2 of Felton in Holguín, and unit 3 of Santa Cruz del Norte—, as well as maintenance work on two other plants (Santa Cruz and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, in Cienfuegos).
This is in addition to 472 MW limited by thermal failures and a critical situation of fuel and lubricant shortages that keeps 84 distributed generation plants out of service (688 MW), along with 96 MW unavailable at the Mariel Fuel engine plant. In total, 891 MW are out of the system due to a lack of basic resources.
Meanwhile, the 31 photovoltaic solar parks in the country contributed only 2,020 MWh on the previous day, a figure insufficient to offset the decline of the thermal system.
The eastern region of the country continues to experience additional tension due to the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, which left 111 MW out of service in Holguín, Granma, and Santiago de Cuba, and another 50 MW in Granma due to low voltage. Power outages persist virtually around the clock, with demand peaks that the system cannot sustain, confirming a structural crisis that has intensified in recent days.
On Sunday, November 16, Unión Eléctrica reported a deficit of 1,475 MW that left millions of Cubans without electricity for nearly the entire day. On that day, more than 800 MW were out of service due to lack of fuel and lubricants, a situation that is now repeating and worsening.
In recent days, the levels of deficit have ranged between 1,400 and 1,500 MW, not counting the additional impacts in the eastern part of the country. The spike this Tuesday—surpassing 1,700 MW—reflects the government's inability to reverse the deterioration of the SEN, whose aging and poorly managed infrastructure continues to collapse.
Prolonged blackouts have once again severely impacted the Cuban population, which faces hours without refrigeration, pumped water, or electric transportation. In many provinces, the outages last more than 20 hours a day, affecting food production, hospitals, and daily life.
Despite the daily reports and announcements of "temporary disruptions," the Cuban people are enduring a permanent energy crisis, worsened by the lack of real investments and the inefficiency of the state apparatus. The UNE did not provide details on a possible recovery schedule or on forecasts for the rest of the week, as blackouts continue to spread throughout the national territory.
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