Cuba suffered a massive blackout on Wednesday noon after the 'unforeseen shutdown' of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant (west), a failure that ended up disconnecting about two-thirds of the country and leaving about six million people without electricity, including Havana. This plant was scheduled for a major maintenance of several months at the beginning of this year, which was not carried out due to the country's energy crisis situation. Restoration is gradual, as conditions in the National Electric System (SEN) allow. The restoration is slow, partly due to the lack of fuel resulting from the US oil siege. Diesel could be used to power the country's distributed generation engines, quickly generating more electricity. Cuba has been suffering a severe energy crisis since mid-2024. Since then, five national blackouts and several partial ones have been recorded, the most recent of these last December. The crisis has structural components, such as the age of the country's seven thermoelectric plants, with decades of exploitation and a chronic deficit of investments, and the lack of foreign currency for the Cuban state to import enough fuel. This Wednesday, seven of the 16 thermoelectric production units were out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance, according to UNE. Then there is, as a conjunctural issue, the US oil siege. The Cuban government highlights the impact of US sanctions and accuses Washington of 'energy suffocation'. Several independent calculations estimate that between $8,000 and $10,000 million would be needed to rehabilitate the electrical system. The blackouts are dragging down the economy, which has shrunk by more than 15% since 2020, according to official figures. Havana, the largest city in Cuba with almost two million inhabitants (300,000 of school age), suspended classes on all levels on Thursday due to the massive blackout caused the day before by a failure in a key country thermoelectric plant. The General Directorate of Education communicated that the decision was made due to 'the current electricity situation affecting the country' and added that the suspension also affects children's circles (kindergartens). According to the state-owned Empresa Eléctrica de La Habana, at 9.45 local time (14.45 GMT) 38.9% of the capital already has the electricity service restored. The generation engines, which used to contribute about 40% of the national energy mix, have been stopped since January due to this Washington measure.
