Havana (EFE).- Cuba has endured 12 months of a full-blown energy crisis marked by blackouts lasting up to 20 hours a day, four nationwide power outages, repeated breakdowns at power plants, a paralyzed economy, and growing social frustration. Experts warn that there is little prospect of improvement in the near future.
Power outages have become the top concern for Cubans, who struggle to preserve food, conduct banking or bureaucratic tasks, charge electric motorcycles and phones, and carry out household chores.
Many wake up in the early hours of the morning, when electricity briefly returns, to cook, iron, or pump water.
While Havana faces cuts ranging from four to 10 hours daily, the rest of the island often experiences more than 20 hours without power, disrupting households, offices, and factories.
According to the state-run Unión Eléctrica (UNE), which belongs to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the average blackout duration in May reached 18 hours nationwide, with some towns enduring up to 38 consecutive hours without electricity.
On Feb. 12, demand peaked during the evening, leaving 57% of the island simultaneously in the dark.
In the past year, four nationwide blackouts have occurred.
While one was linked to Hurricane Helene, three were caused by internal failures in the precarious National Electric System (SEN).
Structural failures and financial limits
Several of Cuba’s seven thermoelectric plants, the backbone of the SEN, are frequently out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance.
These facilities suffer from decades of overuse and chronic underinvestment.
At one point, Cuba docked eight floating power plants along its coast as a temporary solution.
Today, only one remains, after another left Havana Bay two weeks ago due to unpaid bills.
Blackouts stem largely from the deteriorating thermoelectric plants and from the shortage of foreign currency to import fuel for hundreds of small engines spread across the island.
UNE attributes 66% of outages to the latter cause.
In May, authorities promised power cuts would ease by July, the month of peak summer demand. But the promise went unfulfilled.
Although conditions slightly improved this summer thanks to early maintenance on key plants, experts estimate that fully modernizing the SEN would require 8 to 10 billion dollars, sums far beyond Cuba’s reach amid its ongoing economic crisis.
The Cuban government rejects responsibility for decades of policy failures, instead blaming United States sanctions for what state media calls the island’s “energy strangulation.”
Government bets on solar power
Havana’s main strategy to address the crisis is an ambitious solar energy program developed with Chinese support.
The plan aims to build 92 solar parks nationwide, with an installed capacity of around 2,000 megawatts.
So far, 25 parks have been connected to the SEN, in line with government targets.
However, even if completed by 2031, experts warn the project will fall short of closing Cuba’s energy gap, since additional solar capacity and large-scale battery storage would be required to cover nighttime demand.
The Ministry of Energy acknowledges that thermoelectric plants will remain the backbone of the SEN. EFE
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