The Minister of Energy and Mines of Cuba, Vicente de la O Levy, revealed this Wednesday at a press conference that the regime is considering allowing private actors to participate directly in electricity generation for the National Electroenergy System, an unprecedented measure in the island's energy policy.
The statement was made during an update on the electrical crisis, which the minister himself described as "so acute, critical, in which we are living," with a generation deficit that exceeded 2,000 MW.
"We are discussing not only the issue of fuels but also the electric sector, including the participation of non-state management forms and private entities that can take part in our national electric system," stated De la O Levy.
The minister was more specific when describing one of the scenarios under discussion: "It was discussed that a generator set could be made available for the community, which is ready but needs fuel. Well, that possibility also exists."
The opening, although still under discussion, represents a significant shift for a system that has historically been monopolized by the State.
As part of the already approved incentives, the regime unified the purchase price of electricity supplied to the grid: from an asymmetric scheme of three pesos for state entities and six pesos for private ones, it changed to 90 pesos per kilowatt-hour for all parties without distinction.
The immediate cause of the crisis, according to the minister himself, is the lack of fuel: from December 2025 until weeks before the conference, Cuba did not receive any ships with fuel, except for a donation from Russia of 100,000 tons of crude oil that was already depleted in early May.
"That happened almost four months after no fuel ship has entered Cuba," emphasized De la O Levy.
In addition to the fuel shortage, the Felton thermoelectric plant in Holguín has gone offline due to leaks in the boiler and a broken bearing in one of its regenerative air heaters.
The minister warned that if no action had been taken, "the entire unit would have been damaged."
The system is operating today without fuel reserves at the height of summer, when electricity demand is highest.
As a structural output, De la O Levy emphasized energy transition as "the path to our energy sovereignty," with the goal of achieving a 15% share of renewable energy in the electrical matrix by the end of 2026, compared to 3% a year ago.
The regime is also working on 200 MW of energy storage distributed across four locations, and is making progress on the completion of the Herradura 1 wind farm in Las Tunas, whose equipment is fully installed.
A law on energy transition is being developed to be presented to the National Assembly in 2026, and the day before the conference, the minister and a group of experts discussed with President Miguel Díaz-Canel 18 specific energy transition projects, each with an assigned leader.
The regime's long-term plan aims to reach 24% renewable energy by 2030, 40% by 2035, and 100% by 2050—targets that contrast sharply with a system that currently operates at its limits, leaving millions of Cubans without electricity for hours each day.
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