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The academic Jorge Piñón, one of the most cited specialists on the Cuban energy system, insisted that the recent total collapses of the National Electric System (SEN) were not technically caused by a lack of fuel, but rather by the disconnection of generation units in thermoelectric plants that operate with Cuban crude oil, as well as the inherent fragility of the system's interconnected design.
The statement was publicly reiterated by journalist Nora Gámez Torres, a reporter for the Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald, who emphasized that although the fuel shortage exacerbates the crisis, it does not solely account for the collapse of the electrical grid.
"The total collapse of the SEN yesterday, Saturday, was due to the disconnection of one of the generation units of the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant. Not because of a lack of fuel!" Piñón stated.
In that same statement, he asserted that "the design of the interconnectivity of the power generation system of the thermoelectric plants is the sole cause of the seven total blackouts that Cuba has experienced in the last 16 months."
The expert's thesis introduces a key nuance amid the debate on the energy crisis on the island.
Piñón acknowledged that the shortage of diesel for the generators "aggravates the situation," but emphasized that this was not the technical cause of the two total outages that occurred in recent weeks.
According to his explanation, the plants involved operate on Cuban crude oil, and he stated that he had been unable to document "not a single official comment" from the Electric Union (UNE) indicating that any of those units were disconnected due to a lack of that fuel.
What is the explanation?
Nora Gámez summarized that stance with a warning aimed at the public debate: “I don’t think it’s so difficult to accept two facts at once: the oil blockade is harmful, but it is not the technical explanation for the collapse of the electrical grid in Cuba.”
That formulation distinguishes between the general context of energy scarcity affecting the country and the specific technical trigger of the massive blackouts.
Piñón's argument points directly to the structural vulnerability of the SEN.
According to the expert, the underlying issue lies in how the thermoelectric plants are connected to each other and in the fragility of that generation and interconnection architecture.
From that perspective, a single significant disconnection—such as the one mentioned in Nuevitas—can trigger a chain reaction capable of completely sinking the national system.
The specialist's insistence comes just as Cuban authorities announced the reconnection of the SEN from Pinar del Río to Santiago de Cuba, following a general outage that occurred on Saturday.
However, that reconnection did not result in any real improvement for the population. Just one day after the national link was restored, power outages continued to affect the entire territory on a massive scale.
A severe deficit
UNE itself acknowledged that, despite having successfully reestablished the interconnection, there remained a severe deficit in generation.
This Monday, at 6:00 AM, the system's availability was 1,123 megawatts against a demand of 2,070 megawatts, resulting in a deficit of 950 megawatts. By noon, a deficit of up to 1,100 megawatts was estimated.
The outlook for the evening peak hours was even more critical.
According to the official data cited in the document, with an estimated availability of 1,223 megawatts and a demand of 3,050 megawatts, the deficit would reach 1,827 megawatts, with an estimated impact of 1,857 megawatts.
These numbers reflect that, even with the system linked again, the generation capacity remained well below the country's needs.
Authorities attributed the crisis to a combination of breakdowns at several key thermoelectric plants —including units in Mariel, Santa Cruz, Felton, and Antonio Maceo— as well as scheduled maintenance at other facilities.
In addition, there were limitations in thermal generation that rendered more than 500 megawatts out of service. This official report confirms the existence of significant failures in the infrastructure, although the document also notes that the public explanation repeatedly references a lack of fuel.
Piñón specifically questioned that generalization. In his statement, he sarcastically remarked that it now seems that “all the ‘problems’ of Cuba over the last twenty years have been due to the ‘lack of fuel’, as a result of the naval blockade from the U.S. that prevents oil from entering Cuba.”
In response to that narrative, he reiterated that "the 'lack of fuel' is not the reason for the disconnections of the thermoelectric plants that operate with Cuban crude."
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