Havana is in the dark

The failure of the National Electrical System (SEN) occurred around 5:00 in the morning local time (9:00 GMT) for reasons that have not been disclosed at the moment, after several days with record generation deficit rates which were causing prolonged daily blackouts of up to 20 hours.

Cuba suffers a deep energy crisis since mid-2024 due to the frequent breakdowns of its obsolete thermoelectric plants and the country’s lack of foreign currency to purchase the fuel necessary for its fuel oil and diesel generation units.

Energy crisis

This crisis has worsened considerably in recent months and is reflected in the prolonged daily blackouts that they have come to have an average duration of between 15 and 16 hours daily.

Las Cuban thermal power plants are mostly obsoleteafter decades of exploitation and a chronic deficit in investment and maintenance; while dozens of generation engines are out of service daily due to the country’s lack of foreign currency to import enough fuel.

Independent experts point out that the energy crisis responds to chronic underfinancing of this sector, completely in the hands of the Cuban State since the triumph of the revolution in 1959.

The Cuban Government blames, for its part, the impact of the US sanctions to this industry and accuses it of “energy asphyxiation.”

US sanctions and a deep economic crisis have made it impossible for the government to buy enough fuel for years, forcing a increasing dependence on allies and complicating the efforts of Cuba to maintain electricity supply.

Thes crude oil and fuel imports of the island in the first 10 months of 2025 fell more than a third compared to the same period in 2024, as key allies Mexico and Venezuela reduced supplies, according to Reuters.

Various independent calculations agree that the Cuban Government would need between 8,000 and 10,000 million dollars to revive the electrical system, an amount that Havana does not have.

Power outages are a strong obstacle for the national economy, which contracted 1.1% in 2024 and adds an accumulated fall of 11% in the last five years, according to official data.

Furthermore, these cuts fuel social discontent in Cuba and have been linked to the main protests that have been registered in the country in recent years, such as those of July 2021.