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The province of Granma was completely disconnected from the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) this Friday night following an emergency related to the most significant thermoelectric plant in eastern Cuba. The outage occurred around 8:40 PM, as reported by the Electric Company of Granma through its channels, a notice that was fully reproduced by CNC TV Granma.
The direct cause was a sudden drop in frequency recorded while the CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez, known as CTE Felton and located in Mayarí, Holguín, was attempting to synchronize with the national electrical system. In response to this instability, the SEN automatically activated a protection protocol that disconnected the entire province to prevent the collapse from spreading to the rest of the country.
The Electric Company of Granma explained in its statement that “around 8:40 PM, a disconnection of the province occurs due to an emergency in the National Electric Power System (SEN), caused by the CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez (Felton) synchronizing with the electrical system and a sudden drop in frequency, which leads to the disconnection of the province of Granma to avoid the collapse of the National Electric Power System.”
Following the incident, the National Cargo Office took charge of the technical maneuvers to restore the supply. The official entity stated that "at this moment, the Cargo Office is carrying out the operations to reconnect the province to the National System," and concluded its announcement with a brief apology: "We apologize for the inconveniences caused by this situation."
This new blackout is not an isolated incident for Granma. Just ten days earlier, on June 23, the province had already lost electricity supply due to a failure in the 110 kV transmission line between Renté and Santiago de Cuba, on a day when the national deficit reached 1,709 MW. Some circuits in the province have experienced outages of up to 72 consecutive hours, and the population has been publicly demanding at least three hours of daily electricity for months.
The CTE Felton, with an installed capacity of 330 MW, has a history of recurring failures. Its unit 2 was already out of service on July 2, the day before the new incident. On February 4, 2026, a fault at the Holguín 220 kV substation caused by the Felton and Renté power plants left four provinces in eastern Cuba without electricity: Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo.
The national context further exacerbates the situation. On June 30, the maximum impact across the country reached 2,211 MW at ten in the evening, with a generation availability of only 1,100 MW against a demand of 3,200 MW. By July 1, Cuba was experiencing blackouts with a deficit exceeding 2,100 MW and a forecasted impact of 1,980 MW, with multiple units from the thermal power plants Máximo Gómez and Diez de Octubre also out of service.
In the last 18 months, the SEN has experienced at least five total collapses. The longest occurred in March 2026, when a nationwide blackout lasting approximately 29 hours affected the entire country due to the unexpected shutdown of unit 6 at the CTE Nuevitas. In May 2026, the SEN collapsed with a record deficit of 2,113 MW. Daily outages in some regions exceed 20 hours; in Havana, they reach 15 hours, and in interior provinces, they extend to more than 48 consecutive hours.
The crisis is the result of decades of neglect of the Cuban thermoelectric power plants, worsened by the gradual reduction of oil shipments from Venezuela and the lack of fuel in more than 100 distributed generation plants. While the regime issues apologies and promises reconnection maneuvers, the residents of Granma and the rest of Cuba face entire nights in darkness with no certain date for a solution.
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