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A fault in the transmission line of 220 kV connecting Santa Clara with Sancti Spíritus triggered the fourth complete blackout in Cuba in 2026 on Friday. According to a report by the Electric Union on Facebook, the incident occurred at 3:55 PM and led to the complete disconnection of the National Electric System (SEN) at 4:30 PM, just 35 minutes later.
The state-owned company described a chain of events that unfolded rapidly: “At 15:55, there was a failure in the 220 kV line from Santa Clara to Sancti Spíritus, which caused the division of the National Electroenergetic System, the shutdown of several thermal units, and an oscillation in the parameters of the SEN. Together, this resulted in a total disconnection at 16:30,” noted the UNE in its publication.
The collapse occurred in a scenario of extreme fragility. That same day, the availability of the SEN was barely 935 MW against a demand of 3,100 MW, with a projected deficit exceeding 2,100 MW. Additionally, 106 distributed generation plants remained idle due to a lack of fuel, representing an additional 890 MW out of service.
The day had begun with a promise that few believed: the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant announced its startup process to join the National Electric System during peak demand hours. The plant, which has not received comprehensive capital maintenance since 2010, has gone offline 17 times just in 2026.
This blackout is the eighth in approximately 24 months and the fourth so far this year. Just four days earlier, on July 6, Cuba had recorded its third total blackout, which left nearly 9.6 million people without electricity. On July 8, the country reached its largest energy deficit in history: 2,341 MW with 73% of the population affected simultaneously.
The political context adds an additional burden to the event: the blackout occurred on the eve of July 11, the anniversary of the massive protests in 2021. Several internet users pointed this out in the comments of the official post, with phrases like "just hours before July 11." Meanwhile, Miguel Díaz-Canel has recently limited himself to asking for a «better organization» of the blackouts without announcing any measures to increase electricity generation.
The public reaction on social media combined outrage, disbelief, and sarcasm. Several users questioned the technical explanation from UNE: "And in those 35 minutes, isn't there an action plan in the SEN that would prevent such an outage in the 220 kV line between the two cities from going beyond the local scope? Or at least ensure it only results in a partial disconnection?" wrote one internet user. Another summarized the situation with irony: "They’re saying that with a short circuit in a house outlet, the SEN collapses."
Other comments pointed to the real cause that the regime avoids acknowledging: "Let's say there is no fuel," wrote a user. Cuba has gone more than three months without receiving oil shipments, operating with solar energy, natural gas, and power plants in precarious conditions. The thermoelectric plants in the country are between 40 and 60 years old and have not undergone comprehensive capital maintenance.
Havana abandoned the block outage management on the same day, switching to a circuit-based system due to the impossibility of maintaining any rotation scheme. In some areas of Matanzas, power outages have lasted up to 87 consecutive hours, while in Havana the average is 15 hours daily without electricity. The restoration after a total blackout requires the creation of regional microsystems before reconnecting the large thermoelectric plants, a process that can take several days, as noted by a user with bitterness: "The never-ending story."
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