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The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) announced this Monday that the country is facing a generation deficit of over 1,900 megawatts, which will cause widespread electrical disruptions throughout the day and night of December 22, 2025, just two days before Christmas Eve.
According to the official note, the availability of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) at dawn was 1,433 MW compared to a demand of 2,337 MW, which already resulted in an impact of 904 MW due to capacity deficit. For peak nighttime hours, a maximum demand of 3,400 MW is expected, with an insufficient availability of 1,433 MW, leading to a projected impact of up to 1,997 MW.
Damaged thermoelectric plants and lack of fuel
The UNE reported that the Unit 6 of the CTE Antonio Maceo (Santiago de Cuba) and the Unit 2 of the CTE Felton (Holguín) are out of service due to breakdowns. Additionally, three other units are under maintenance: Unit 6 of Mariel, Unit 2 of Santa Cruz del Norte, and Unit 4 of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cienfuegos).
The situation worsens due to the lack of fuel and lubricants, which keeps 95 distributed generation plants (899 MW) and the Central Fuel of Moa (108 MW) out of service, in addition to another 102 MW that are unavailable. In total, the system loses 1,109 MW for this reason.
Havana under scheduled blackouts
The Electric Company of Havana confirmed that the service was interrupted on Sunday from 6:09 a.m., with a maximum impact of 206 MW at 6:20 p.m. and total restoration after 10:30 p.m. However, for this Monday, the 22nd, and the early hours of the 23rd, the company published a new block outage schedule that includes cuts in various municipalities between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day.
Authorities warned that "these impacts will depend on the demands of the SEN," which implies that they could expand if the deficit remains or worsens.
A country in shadows on the eve of Christmas
Social media was filled this Monday with messages of frustration and outrage from Cubans who fear celebrating Christmas without electricity. “Happy Christmas in total darkness,” “Wow, what a nice Christmas gift awaits us, how wonderful, in the style of the indigenous people, it’s a disrespect to a people who have done nothing but dedicate their lives to this government, this is the little gift for the educators too”; “What the hell do these people care about New Year's or anything else, this is shameful in front of the world,” reads among the reactions.
The government has not announced any measures to alleviate the energy crisis, which has persisted for more than three years and severely affects daily life and national production. Meanwhile, authorities insist that "intensive work" is underway to reintegrate thermal units and maintain service during the most critical hours.
With the system at its limit and the population worn out by blackouts, Cuba reaches Christmas Eve under the shadow of a new energy collapse.
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