Spanish
The Cuban regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel anticipated that the current energy crisis on the island, marked by blackouts of more than 20 hours a day in vast regions and one of the most serious situations recorded in recent years, will only improve "slightly" in 2026, according to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, in an interview published this Friday by the official newspaper Granma.
The minister warned that 2026 will be a "difficult" year mainly due to the persistent shortage of foreign currency for the acquisition of fuel.
The sector head pointed out that the current year was "very difficult" and "very tense", characterized by "the greatest absence of fuel" suffered by the country and the occurrence of power outages that reached up to "24 hours a day" in some areas. Looking ahead to the new year, De la O Levy clarified that although "there will be a decrease" in blackouts, the process will be gradual: "It is a long road ahead for the country", he pointed out in the aforementioned interview.
The minister detailed that 2026 will be "a difficult year, slightly better", referring to the forecasts regarding electricity generation, and insisted that, although the infrastructure will have better operating conditions and a greater generation capacity, blackouts will not disappear. "We are better prepared. We are going to have more generation, but we are not going to eliminate blackouts," said De la O Levy.
The main obstacle to reversing the situation, he emphasized, is the lack of fuel —diesel and fuel oil— in the engines distributed throughout the national territory. De la O Levy attributed this difficulty to structural financial problems. Regarding 2026, he anticipated an increase in the entry of fuels, although he qualified that "not a significant volume growth as needed". "There will be a decrease (in power outages), but we will continue to be significantly affected by fuel," he underlined.
During the week, the island reached record levels of blackouts. For this Friday, the figure estimated by the authorities put the percentage of the country that would suffer simultaneous power cuts at 61%. De la O Levy explained that this is due to "a very significant fuel deficit", which has put out of service, "practically", all the installed generation capacity through diesel and fuel oil engines, estimated at about 1,000 megawatts (MW).
The head of the energy area described the challenge of maintaining the interconnected National Electric System (SEN), which supplies almost 100% of the population, as "immense." "There are many transformers, thousands of kilometers of cables, insulators, substations, interconnection and automation systems, and a lot of technical personnel that must be maintained," he stated in statements collected by Granma.
Regarding the planned solutions, the minister informed that there will be an increase in production capacity thanks to the incorporation of four thermoelectric generation units undergoing "major maintenance" during the current year. Two of them are already operating, while the other two will be integrated into the system shortly. In addition, he highlighted that this year will close with 1,000 MW of installed capacity in solar parks, in line with the government's plan to build fifty of these infrastructures with Chinese cooperation, although the state-owned Unión Eléctrica (UNE) has indicated that only 33 have been put into operation to date.
De la O Levy calculated that, by adding thermoelectric generation, distributed generation (diesel and fuel oil engines), photovoltaic solar and gas, the system has more than 3,200 MW "technically available", a figure that approximates demand in these months, but is insufficient to guarantee the full continuity of service in the face of persistent limitations in the fuel supply.
