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This Saturday, Cuba faces a critical electrical situation: eleven thermoelectric units are out of service—six due to failures and five undergoing maintenance—while the Electric Union projects a deficit of 2,050 MW for the evening, due to a supply of only 1,050 MW against an estimated demand of 3,100 MW.
According to the official statement, the impact during peak nighttime hours will be 2,080 MW, a figure that condemns millions of Cubans to long hours without electricity. By noon, it was already projected at 1,550 MW.
The units that are out of service are number 6 and 8 of the Máximo Gómez thermoelectric plant in Mariel; the Antonio Guiteras in Matanzas; unit 6 of the Diez de Octubre plant in Nuevitas; unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez in Felton; and unit 3 of the Antonio Maceo in Renté.
The following facilities are under maintenance: Block 5 of the Máximo Gómez Thermal Power Plant; Block 3 of the Ernesto Guevara Thermal Power Plant in Santa Cruz; Units 5 and 6 of the Antonio Maceo Thermal Power Plant; and Block 5 of the Diez de Octubre Thermal Power Plant.
Additionally, 106 distributed generation plants remain inactive due to a lack of fuel, along with the Patana de Regla, the Patana de Melones, the Mariel Fuel Plant, and the Moa Fuel Plant.
On Friday, the service was interrupted for 24 hours nationwide, including the early morning, with a maximum impact of 2,221 MW at 8:00 PM.
The Electric Company of Havana confirmed that the capital was also affected: the maximum impact reached 586 MW, and at the time of closing their report, there were still 407 MW without restoration, "with no scheduled time for restoration."
Friday night was also marked by a failure at the Victoria de Girón Substation in Havana, which at 8:08 PM caused high fluctuations in the system and the abrupt shutdown of the Renté 3 and Felton 1 units.
The Granma Electric Company explained that the province was completely disconnected as a protective measure: "There was a sudden drop in frequency, which led to the disconnection of the Granma province to prevent the collapse of the National Electroenergetic System."
The deterioration is not temporary. The CTE Antonio Guiteras -the largest thermoelectric plant in the country- has accumulated 17 system outages so far this year and has not received major maintenance since 2010.
The director of UNE, Román Pérez Castañeda, acknowledged the need for that intervention but admitted that "the situation in the country does not allow for it yet."
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, promised that maintenance would be completed by the end of 2025, postponed it in December, and mentioned it again in April 2026 without setting a specific date: a pattern of unfulfilled promises that sums up the regime's response to the worst energy crisis in its history.
Cuba needs between 90,000 and 110,000 barrels of oil daily for its electrical system, but it only produces 40,000. The cut in Venezuelan supply in January 2026 worsened a situation that was already unsustainable.
Since July 1, protests, pot-banging, and street blockades have been reported in neighborhoods of Havana and Santiago de Cuba, with slogans escalating from "We want electricity!" to "Freedom!" and "Down with the dictatorship!". The Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,311 protests in May 2026, the highest number since July 11, 2021.
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