The energy crisis in Cuba shows no signs of letting up. On January 16, the Electric Union (UNE) confirmed that the National Electric System (SEN) was affected throughout the previous 24 hours and that the situation remained the same at dawn.
Far from being a one-time event, the blackouts remain a constant issue throughout the Island, once again highlighting the State's inability to provide a basic service to the population.
According to the official report, the highest impact on Thursday was 2010 MW at 6:30 PM, a figure that exceeded expectations, due to the 6th unit of the Renté thermoelectric plant and the 8th unit of the CTE Mariel being out of service.
At 6:00 am this Friday, while the regime was making the final preparations for the March of the Combatant People called by Díaz-Canel, the availability of the SEN was only 1220 MW against a demand of 1970 MW, resulting in a deficit of 760 MW.
By midday, an impact of 1100 MW was already anticipated.
The causes of the collapse are recurring: breakdowns, extended maintenance, and a chronic lack of fuel.
Units 5 and 8 of the Mariel Thermal Power Plant, units 1 and 2 of Felton, and unit 6 of Antonio Maceo in Santiago de Cuba remain out of service due to breakdowns.
This is complemented by maintenance work on block 2 of the CTE Santa Cruz and block 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in Cienfuegos.
In thermal generation alone, there are 699 MW unavailable, a figure that illustrates the extreme deterioration of the energy sector.
But the biggest blow comes from distributed generation: 96 plants are offline due to a lack of fuel, which translates to a decrease of 927 MW, plus an additional 24 MW from the Patana de Melones, 39 MW from the Patana de Regla, and 171 MW out of service due to a shortage of lubricant.
In total, the shortage of supplies has left 1161 MW affected for this reason.
For the peak night hours, the UNE anticipates an output of 120 MW from unit 1 of Felton and 30 MW from Energás Jaruco. Nonetheless, the available capacity would barely reach 1400 MW, compared to an estimated demand of 3150 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1750 MW and a potential impact of up to 1780 MW.
Not even the 37 new solar parks were able to make up for the collapse: they produced 2,583 MWh and reached a maximum power output of 430 MW at noon, a figure that is insufficient given the scale of the national deficit.
In Havana, the Electric Company reported that on Thursday the service was affected for 14 hours and 28 minutes, peaking at 353 MW at 6:30 PM. There was a 95 MW reduction due to an emergency.
The situation only normalized after midnight, and even then, 185 MW remained affected due to the emergency across six blocks and nine circuits.
The company itself warned that if the availability of the SEN does not improve, it will not be possible to meet the schedule, and unexpected outages will continue.
While millions of Cubans spend entire nights without electricity, without fans, without refrigeration for food, and unable to sleep amid the heat and mosquitoes, the government shows that it cannot guarantee even a single day without blackouts.
However, it can organize political events and official marches—like the one held this morning in honor of the 32 soldiers who died in Venezuela—consuming fuel, transportation, and resources in the midst of a crisis that is suffocating the country.
The contradiction is stark: a State that demands sacrifice from the "fighting people," yet fails to provide even the bare minimum for that same people to live with dignity.
The energy crisis is not an accident: it is the result of decades of neglect, mismanagement, reliance on external sources, and propaganda instead of real solutions. And once again, it is the ordinary citizens who pay the price.
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