A truck lost control and crashed into the Vietnam Electric Substation, in the municipality of Aguada de Pasajeros, in Cienfuegos, on Thursday night, causing severe damage to the infrastructure and leaving more than 9,000 customers without service in a province already affected by prolonged blackouts.
The Cienfuegos Electric Company announced on Facebook that the impact "caused severe damage to the transformer and other components of the substation," which necessitated the disconnection of eight circuits supplying 9,026 consumers.
The affected areas included Aguada de Pasajeros, Real Campiña, Vietnam, Perseverancia, Plan Arroz, Antonio Sánchez, and several rural communities in the municipality.
The accident also caused the collapse of poles, breakage of insulators, disconnection of conductors, and a leak of dielectric oil from the transformer, which complicated recovery efforts from the early hours.
The state-owned company confirmed that the damaged transformer had to be transported to Havana for repair, as the country has only three specialized workshops for this type of equipment, located in Havana, Villa Clara, and Manzanillo.
"Efforts are underway to repair the damage to the line in order to restore service to the other circuits in Aguada, with the circuit associated with the Vietnam Substation still pending while repairs to the transformer are being made," the statement specified.
So far, the authorities have not announced how long the repair of the equipment will take or when the service will be fully restored.
An area already affected by power outages
The accident worsens the situation of a municipality that has been experiencing prolonged power outages for months.
Residents of Aguada de Pasajeros have reported power outages lasting up to 48 consecutive hours, while residents of Real Campiña, one of the areas affected by the disaster, reported in June that they had endured three days without electricity and nearly a month without access to drinking water due to the lack of energy for pumping.
The collision also highlights the fragility of the Cuban electrical system, where the lack of transformers and spare parts hampers recovery from any breakdowns. In June, the Electric Union (UNE) acknowledged that no province had sufficient reserve transformers to replace damaged equipment.
Unrelenting energy crisis
The accident occurs amid one of the worst energy crises Cuba has faced in decades.
This Saturday, UNE forecasted a generation deficit of 2,080 megawatts (MW) during peak demand hours, after an expected shortfall of 2,315 MW was reported on Friday.
So far in 2026, the National Electroenergy System has experienced several significant collapses, including one on July 14, while daily blackouts continue to affect millions of Cubans across the country.
Although the brigades are working on the recovery of the substation, the Cienfuegos Electric Company stated that its specialists are working "to find a solution as soon as possible," without providing an estimated date for the full restoration of service.
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