The Minister of Energy and Mines of Cuba, Vicente de la O Levy, described the situation of the national electric system this Wednesday as "acute, critical" and "extremely tense," during a press conference where he detailed the causes of the intensification of blackouts across the country.
The root of the issue, according to the minister himself, is that Cuba did not receive a single fuel shipment from December 2025 until the end of March 2026, a period of nearly four months that left the system without any reserves.
The only exception was a donation from Russia of 100,000 tons of crude oil, processed at the Cienfuegos refinery, which allowed for a temporary improvement in April: in Havana, there were "several days of no blackouts."
However, that fuel ran out in early May, right when temperatures rise and electricity demand increases, leaving the system again "without any reserve," in the words of the official.
"This week has also been extremely tense, as it coincided with Felton, Mariel having no fuel, Havana having no fuel, and distributed generation having no fuel," admitted De la O Levy.
The crisis worsened even further with the shutdown of the thermal power plant in Felton, located in Holguín, which was experiencing leaks in the boiler and a broken bearing in the regenerative air heater.
The minister explained that the plant had to be shut down mandatory: "If it continued operating like that, the entire unit would be completely damaged."
For this Thursday, it was expected to conduct the hydraulic test of the Felton boiler, although the subsequent startup process would take several additional hours.
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the country, had already been out of service since the previous week, which further exacerbates the generation deficit.
The deficit reached an annual record of 2,113 MW last Tuesday at 8:40 PM, surpassing the previous high of 2,075 MW recorded on March 6.
In Havana, the situation is particularly dramatic: "Power outages today last for more than 20 to 22 hours. And when they do occur, they last for 2 hours, an hour and a half, 2 hours, 3 hours in some circuits, 4 hours, and then we go back to 20 to 22 hours. This is how it is in the capital," acknowledged De la O Levy.
The minister also revealed a technical paradox: Cuba has over 1,300 MW of installed solar photovoltaic capacity, but only utilizes an average of 580 MW, because the fragility of the rest of the system prevents it from absorbing the fluctuations of solar energy without the risk of collapse.
The regime attributes the crisis to U.S. sanctions, although the structural dependence on imported fuels—resulting from decades of poor economic management—is the underlying cause of a system that has experienced seven total collapses in the last 18 months.
Miguel Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged this Wednesday that "the situation of the National Electric Power System is particularly tense" and that Cuba ceased to generate 1,100 MW that day solely due to a lack of fuel.
De la O Levy concluded his remarks with a phrase that encapsulates the official stance in the face of a seemingly unsolvable crisis: "We will remain blocked, but we will continue to resist."
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