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Unit one of the Santa Cruz Thermal Power Plant was taken offline from the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) this Wednesday at 5:15 PM due to a failure in the turbine regulation system, as reported by the Cuban Electric Union in its update at 7:00 PM.
The shutdown of this unit immediately worsened an already critical situation: at seven in the evening, the availability of the SEN was just 1,122 MW against a demand of 2,974 MW, with an active shortfall of 1,875 MW. The availability represented 37.7% of the total demand.
Before the outage occurred, the Unión Eléctrica was already projecting an impact of 1,975 MW for the nighttime peak, with a maximum demand of 3,200 MW and a availability of only 1,255 MW. The shutdown at Santa Cruz worsened those numbers.
Among the damaged units of the SEN on that same day were also unit two of the CTE Ernesto Guevara, a unit from the CTE Antonio Guiteras, unit two of the CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez, and unit five of the CTE Antonio Maceo.
The CTE Santa Cruz del Norte, located in Matanzas, has an installed capacity linked to a complex of 480 MW and is one of the most significant facilities in the Cuban electrical system. Throughout 2026, its units have experienced multiple breakdowns: on March 14, failures were reported in units one and two; on March 16, units two and three were out of service during a total system blackout due to the complete disconnection of the SEN; on April 8, the failure of unit one increased the outage to 1,871 MW.
The pattern repeats: every failure in Santa Cruz immediately impacts the national situation, given that the SEN operates with a chronic structural deficit caused by fuel shortages and the accumulated deterioration of the thermoelectric fleet.
May 2026 has been one of the toughest months of the year. On May 13, a record deficit of 2,153 MW was recorded during peak hours, and on May 14, another record of 2,174 MW was reached. On May 16, 51% of the country was left without electricity simultaneously, with a maximum impact of 2,041 MW. In Havana, blackouts extended between 20 to 22 hours daily during this month.
On Wednesday, actor Luis Alberto García posted a direct critique of the regime on Facebook: "Is there fuel or not? Are gasoline and oil ideological?", questioning the use of state resources for political events while massive blackouts continue.
The two structural causes of the crisis are the lack of fuel and the gradual collapse of thermal power plants due to accumulated breakdowns and a lack of proper maintenance, a direct consequence of 67 years of failed economic management by the dictatorship. The government has not presented any short-term structural solutions.
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