Cuba faces another day of extreme blackouts this Wednesday: the Electric Union (UNE) forecasts an impact of 1,963 MW during peak demand hours, nearing a deficit of 2,000 MW, according to the official report published this morning.
On Tuesday, the system operated at its limit: the service was interrupted due to capacity shortages for 24 hours, including the entire night, with a maximum impact of 1,942 MW recorded at 7:50 PM.
At six in the morning this Wednesday, the availability of the National Electric System (SEN) was only 1,017 MW compared to a demand of 2,300 MW, with 1,292 MW already uncovered.
By noon, an impact of 1,450 MW was anticipated, and during the nighttime peak, the projected demand rises to 2,950 MW with only 1,017 MW available, resulting in a deficit of 1,933 MW.
The simultaneous breakdowns account for a significant portion of the collapse. The Mariel unit 8, Santa Cruz units 1 and 2, Felton unit 2, and Renté units 3 and 6 are out of service.
In addition, three units are under maintenance: unit 3 in Santa Cruz, unit 5 in Nuevitas, and unit 5 in Renté. The limitations in thermal generation total 518 MW.
The CTE Antonio Guiteras, the largest thermoelectric plant in the country located in Matanzas, is also unavailable. On Monday night, it was synchronized at 10:06 PM and went offline again just 24 hours later, with causes "pending identification." Guiteras has accumulated at least 17 unexpected outages during 2026.
Photovoltaic solar energy contributed 3,752 MWh on Tuesday, with a maximum output of 591 MW delivered around noon, a volume insufficient to offset the collapse of the thermal plant during nighttime hours.
The crisis of this week is part of a deterioration that worsened in the middle of the month. On October 16, a fire in Unit 1 of the CTE Santa Cruz, caused by an oil leak in the rotor, pushed the maximum impact to 2,026 MW and left 75.5% of the national demand without electricity, with only 740 MW available against a demand of 2,900 MW.
The worst record for October was on the 2nd, with a maximum outage of 2,130 MW. September turned out to be even darker: at least 23 of the 28 days of the month ended with more than 2,000 MW of unmet demand. A leader of the Communist Party in Pinar del Río even admitted that some circuits had accumulated over 90 consecutive hours without electricity.
Behind the collapse are structural causes that the regime has not addressed in decades: Cuba needs about 110,000 barrels of oil daily but internally produces only around 40,000, resulting in a deficit of about 60,000 barrels a day that are no longer covered by Venezuela, Mexico, or Russia, whose supplies ceased in 2026.
The forecast of 1,963 MW of impact for tonight suggests that Cubans will once again face long power outages, with the system lacking any real capacity to reverse the situation.
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