Cuba faces another day of widespread blackouts this Saturday after a night during which the electricity deficit showed no mercy.
According to the official statement from Unión Eléctrica, at 06:00 hours the availability of the National Electroenergetic System was just 955 MW compared to a demand of 2,750 MW, with 1,770 MW affected.
Friday was one of the toughest days of the year: outages extended for 24 hours, including the entire night, and the peak impact reached 2,310 MW at 9:40 PM.
The outlook for this Saturday night is bleak. The state-owned company projects a capacity of 1,155 MW against a peak demand of 3,200 MW, which would result in a deficit of 2,045 MW and an estimated impact of 2,075 MW.
Several generating units remain out of service. Units 6 and 8 of the CTE Mariel, the unit from CTE Guiteras, unit 2 from CTE Felton, and unit 3 from CTE Renté are experiencing breakdowns.
Units 3 of the Santa Cruz thermoelectric plant, unit 5 of the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant, and units 5 and 6 of the Renté thermoelectric plant are under maintenance, with total thermal limitations of 298 MW.
The only prospect of relief offered by the UNE is the expected contribution from the CTE Antonio Guiteras with 200 MW during peak demand hours, although that plant — the largest in the country — has not received major maintenance since 2010 and has gone offline 17 times so far in 2026.
The 54 photovoltaic solar parks installed by the regime contributed 5,102 MWh on Friday, with a maximum output of 793 MW at noon. This figure, while significant, is insufficient to offset the nighttime collapse of the thermoelectric system.
This event takes place during a catastrophic July, with three total blackouts in just eight days —on July 6, 10, and 14— making this month the most critical of the year, with the fifth total collapse of the SEN in 2026 and the tenth in approximately 24 months.
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