The national power grid of Cuba suffered a catastrophic collapse on Friday night, plunging millions into darkness and deepening the island’s ongoing energy crisis.
The outage began at approximately 8:15 p.m. (00:15 GMT) after a failure at the Diezmero substation in Havana triggered a chain reaction that shut down power generation nationwide, according to officials from the state-run Union Electrica (UNE).
By Saturday morning, UNE reported generating only 225 MW—less than 10% of the country’s total electricity demand. Authorities said backup circuits were supplying power to critical services such as hospitals.
“Several provinces have parallel circuits and generator units are starting to be synchronized with the national grid,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on X.
The latest blackout follows three nationwide outages in late 2024, two of which lasted several days. While this is the first major grid failure of 2025, it comes amid one of the worst economic crises Cuba has faced in three decades.
Cuba, under long-standing U.S. sanctions, has depended heavily on subsidized Venezuelan oil for years. However, as Venezuela’s government struggles with its own economic challenges, fuel deliveries have become increasingly unreliable.
“Right now, no one knows when the power will come back on,” Havana resident Abel Bonne told Reuters early Saturday while standing along the Malecon waterfront.
For many Cubans, blackouts are already a part of daily life. In Havana, residents endure frequent four- to five-hour power cuts. Outside the capital, the situation is even worse, with rolling blackouts reaching up to 20 hours per day in recent weeks.
“My God, this is terrible, we’re in for a dark weekend,” said Karen Gutierrez, a 32-year-old ice cream vendor in Havana, speaking to AFP.
Andres Lopez, a 67-year-old from the eastern province of Holguín, expressed frustration over yet another grid failure.
“It really bugs me,” he said. “Let’s see when they get the power back on.”
Cuban officials attribute much of the country’s economic hardship to the Cold War-era U.S. trade embargo, which restricts financial transactions and limits access to vital imports such as fuel and electrical infrastructure parts.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently tightened sanctions against Cuba, vowing to implement a “tough” stance toward the island’s communist-led government.
To address its electricity shortages, Cuba is accelerating plans to install at least 55 solar farms using Chinese technology by the end of the year. Officials say these new facilities could generate approximately 1,200 MW—about 12% of the country’s total electricity supply.
