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The National Electroenergy System (SEN) of Cuba experienced a new total disconnection this Friday at 4:30 PM, as confirmed by the Electric Union on their social media.
"Now, 4:30 PM. Total collapse of the National Electric System," the company wrote.
The collapse was also reported by journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso on Facebook, who stated: "A disconnection from the National Electric System occurred a few minutes ago. We are looking for more details."
This is the fourth total blackout of 2026 and the eighth in approximately 24 months, representing an unprecedented acceleration in the rate of collapses of the Cuban electrical system.
The moment of the collapse is particularly revealing: on that same day, the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant had announced its process of starting up to join the National Electric System precisely during peak demand hours, a promise that generated widespread skepticism among the Cuban population.
The conditions prior to the collapse were already critical: the availability of the SEN during peak hours was about 935 MW against a demand of 3,100 MW, indicating an expected deficit of over 2,100 MW.
In addition to that, 106 distributed generation plants remained idle due to a lack of fuel, representing 890 MW of additional unavailable capacity.
The immediate context further worsens the situation. Just four days earlier, Cuba recorded its third total blackout of the year on July 6, leaving approximately 9.6 million people without electricity.
On July 8, the largest energy deficit in the country's history was reached: 2,341 MW, with 73% of the population affected simultaneously.
The causes are structural. The Cuban thermoelectric plants have accumulated between 40 and 60 years of age without comprehensive capital maintenance. The Guiteras, inaugurated in 1988, has not received that type of maintenance since 2010 and has been out of the SEN 17 times just in 2026 so far.
Cuba has also been without oil shipments for over three months, relying on solar energy, natural gas, and plants operating under precarious conditions.
This Friday, Díaz-Canel called to "better organize" the blackouts without announcing any measures to increase generation, while Havana abandoned block management due to the impossibility of maintaining any rotation scheme.
In some areas of Matanzas, power outages have lasted up to 87 consecutive hours; in Havana, the average is 15 hours daily without electricity, a situation that has sparked pot-banging protests met with police operations.
The process of restoration following a total disconnection is technically complex and can take several days: it requires the establishment of regional microsystems before reconnecting the large thermal power plants. The longest blackout of the current cycle occurred on March 16, 2026, lasting 29 hours and 29 minutes.
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