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Cuba wakes up this Thursday with an escalating electricity crisis.
According to the official report from Unión Eléctrica, at 6:00 a.m., the availability of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) was only 1,043 MW compared to a demand of 2,334 MW, leaving 1,296 MW unmet.
"Yesterday, the service was impacted due to capacity shortages over the 24-hour period, and the disruption has continued into the early hours of today," stated UNE in its informational note. The highest impact recorded this Wednesday was 1,885 MW at 8:20 PM.
The worst is yet to come. For the peak night hours this Thursday, the UNE forecasts a capacity of only 1,045 MW against a projected demand of 3,000 MW. The anticipated deficit is 1,955 MW, with an estimated impact of 1,985 MW, the most severe in recent days.
The immediate causes are multiple simultaneous breakdowns in the country's thermal power plants. Units 5 and 8 of the CTE Mariel, units 1 and 3 of CTE Santa Cruz, unit 2 of CTE Felton, and units 3, 5, and 6 of CTE Antonio Maceo are out of service. Additionally, unit 6 of CTE Mariel and unit 5 of CTE Nuevitas remain under maintenance. In total, the limitations in thermal generation amount to 347 MW out of service.
As the only partial relief, the 52 photovoltaic solar parks installed in the country contributed 3,760 MWh this Wednesday, with a maximum capacity of 592 MW during daytime hours. However, this generation cannot offset the nighttime deficit, as Cuba lacks large-scale battery storage systems.
The situation this Thursday is framed within a sustained deterioration that has dramatically worsened in recent weeks. Last Sunday, Cuba experienced its second total blackout in a week —and seventh in 18 months— when the failure of unit 6 at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant triggered a cascading effect that left the national electrical system at zero megawatts. Over 90% of Havana was left without electricity. On March 16, another total collapse occurred that lasted 29 hours and 29 minutes.
The structural backdrop is devastating. The Cuban thermoelectric plants, built with Soviet technology in the 1960s and 70s, far exceed their designed lifespan of 25 years. The rehabilitation of the system would require between 8 billion and 10 billion dollars, resources that are unattainable for the regime. This is compounded by the interruption of Venezuelan oil supplies since late 2025, which accounted for nearly 30% of the island's energy needs, and the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration that block Cuba’s access to international oil. Mexico halted its sales on January 27, 2026.
Cuban electricity production fell by 13.7% in 2025, a year in which the island's GDP declined by 5%, accumulating a drop of 15% since 2020, a direct consequence of 67 years of dictatorial management that have pushed the country's infrastructure to the brink of total collapse. An expert insists that the collapses of the SEN are not solely due to the lack of fuel, but also to decades of structural deterioration with no solution in sight.
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