Havana.- Cuba will have prolonged power outages throughout the country this Saturday, blackouts that will disconnect up to 63% of the island at the time of greatest energy demand, according to data from the state-owned Electric Union (UNE).
Cuba has been going through a deep energy crisis since mid-2024, but the oil siege imposed by the U.S. Government since January has increased the blackouts, almost completely paralyzing the economy and triggering social unrest.
Since Cuba began in 2022 to regularly disseminate energy statistics, the largest scheduled blackout was recorded this Friday (68%).
Massive Blackouts
In addition, last Wednesday the island suffered an unforeseen massive blackout that left about six million people -including Havana- without power due to a breakdown in a key thermoelectric plant in the west of the country.
The UNE, attached to the Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines, forecasts for the peak demand time of this day, in the evening, a generation capacity of 1,156 megawatts (MW) and a maximum demand of 3,050 MW.
The deficit -the difference between supply and demand- will be 1,894 MW and the estimated impact -what will actually be disconnected to avoid disorderly blackouts- will reach 1,924 MW.
Breakdowns in thermoelectric generation units
Currently, nine of the country's 16 thermoelectric generation units are not operational due to breakdowns or maintenance work (when this source is responsible for 40% of the energy mix).
These affectations are not linked to the US oil embargo (because they mostly use national oil), but rather to the conditions in which these obsolete infrastructures operate, with decades of exploitation and a chronic deficit of investments.
Another 40% of the mix was the responsibility of the so-called distributed generation (diesel and fuel oil engines), which the Government has indicated has been completely stopped since January due to the lack of fuel.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 million dollars to clean up the electrical system
Several independent calculations estimate that between 8 and 10 billion dollars would be needed to clean up the electrical system.
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Power outages are hampering the economy, which has contracted by more than 15% since 2020, according to official figures. In addition, they have been the trigger for the main protests of recent years.
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