Related videos:
The Cuban Electric Union (UNE) confirmed this Monday that 106 distributed generation plants are offline due to a lack of fuel, exacerbating an electrical crisis that left the country without power for 24 hours on Sunday.
The national electric power system (SEN) started this Monday with an availability of just 1,150 MW compared to a demand of 2,690 MW, resulting in a current shortfall of 1,555 MW.
The night outlook is even more bleak. The UNE projects a capacity of 1,155 MW during peak hours against a demand of 3,150 MW, with an expected deficit of 1,990 MW and a projected impact of 2,020 MW.
In addition to the 106 fuel-free distributed generation plants, the organization reported that the Patana de Regla, the Patana de Melones, the Mariel Fuel Plant, and the Moa Fuel Plant are out of service, facilities that together represent an approximate loss of 1,203 MW.
Regarding conventional thermoelectric plants, several units remain out of service: units six and eight of the Máximo Gómez Thermoelectric Plant in the Mariel Special Zone; unit two of Lidio Ramón Pérez in Felton; and unit three of Antonio Maceo in Renté.
Other units are under maintenance: unit three of the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna Thermoelectric Plant in Santa Cruz; units five and six of Antonio Maceo in Renté; and unit five of Diez de Octubre in Nuevitas.
The UNE acknowledged that on Sunday "the electrical service was disrupted for 24 hours, including the early morning, due to a lack of generation capacity," with a maximum impact of 1,775 MW recorded at 9:50 PM and affecting all provinces of the country.
The 54 photovoltaic solar parks generated 5,245 MW/hour on Sunday, with a maximum power output of 642 MW, a figure that is insufficient to compensate for the enormous structural deficit of the system.
The fuel shortage is the direct cause of the collapse of distributed generation. Cuba has gone more than three months without regular shipments of oil, which has stalled the thousands of diesel and fuel oil generators that operate as backup for the thermoelectric system.
This situation arises just three days after the fourth total blackout of the year, which occurred on July 10 when a failure in the 220 kV transmission line between Santa Clara and Sancti Spíritus left approximately 10 million people without electricity for 35 minutes.
On July 8, the largest energy deficit in the country's history was recorded: 2,341 MW, with 73% of the population affected simultaneously.
After the blackout on July 10, President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed the "oil blockade" for the collapse, while the Minister of Energy and Mines promised resilience in the face of the crisis.
Cuba has experienced eight total blackouts of the National Electric System in approximately 24 months, four of which have occurred just in 2026, against a backdrop where many circuits in Havana remain shut down due to outages and the population has been enduring interruptions that exceed 20 hours daily, along with disruptions to the potable water service.
Filed under: