On Monday, September 29, 2025, Cuba found itself at the epicenter of a perfect storm—both figuratively and literally. The island nation was battered by Tropical Storm Imelda while simultaneously grappling with one of its worst electricity generation deficits in recent memory, a crisis that has left millions in the dark and compounded the hardship of natural disaster.
According to the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE), the country’s National Electric System (SEN) faced a staggering generation deficit of nearly 1,900 megawatts (MW) on Monday. This shortfall, which has been plaguing the country for months, led to extended blackouts that affected daily life across the island. As reported by CELEBRITAX, the morning’s available power was just 1,630 MW against a demand of 2,913 MW, leaving a deficit impact of 1,315 MW. The situation hardly improved by noon, with an estimated impact of 1,250 MW, and by nighttime peak, the deficit swelled to 1,790 MW as demand soared to 3,500 MW, resulting in an impact of up to 1,860 MW.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. On Sunday, September 28, the electric service was disrupted for a full 24 hours, peaking at a deficit of 1,894 MW at 8:50 p.m. This crisis was exacerbated by the outage of two units at the Renté Thermoelectric Power Plant, and things took a turn for the worse later that night when four units at Energás Jaruco unexpectedly shut down due to the closure of the main gas valve, adding 300 MW to the outages starting at 11:02 p.m.
The breakdowns did not stop there. Unit 2 at the Felton Thermal Power Plant, unit 5 at the Nuevitas Thermal Power Plant, and three blocks at Renté were all reported out of commission. Meanwhile, units 1 and 2 at the Santa Cruz Thermal Power Plant and unit 4 at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Thermal Power Plant in Cienfuegos were under maintenance. The UNE acknowledged that 310 MW remained out of service due to thermal limitations. The crisis was further compounded by a lack of fuel and lubricants—57 distributed generation plants providing 483 MW were halted due to fuel shortages, and another 154 MW were lost to insufficient lubricant, totaling 637 MW affected.
While the government has touted the installation of 31 new photovoltaic solar parks, which contributed 2,414 megawatt-hours (MWh) on Sunday with a peak power of 435 MW around noon, this has done little to bridge the gaping deficit. As the UNE candidly admitted, the contribution from renewables is still far from enough to offset the country’s energy crisis.
In Havana, the capital was not spared. Blackouts began at 5:08 p.m. on Sunday, affecting all six districts and reaching a peak impact of 301 MW at 11:50 p.m. This widespread outage disrupted the official interruption schedule, forcing authorities to publish a new blackout schedule for Monday and into the early hours of Tuesday. However, the Electric Company reiterated that interruptions would ultimately depend on the national availability of the SEN.
So, why are blackouts so frequent in Cuba? According to CELEBRITAX, the answer lies in a combination of factors: a significant electricity generation deficit, breakdowns in thermoelectric plants, a lack of maintenance, and chronic issues with fuel and lubricant supply. The country’s electrical infrastructure is outdated and heavily reliant on thermoelectric plants, making it vulnerable to any disruption in fuel delivery or mechanical reliability. Efforts to invest in renewable energy have lagged, leaving Cuba exposed when traditional systems fail.
The impact on daily life is profound. Blackouts limit the ability to refrigerate food, cook, use essential electrical appliances, and access digital services. Medical services, small businesses, and urban infrastructure suffer, creating an atmosphere of hopelessness and mounting social discontent. The government’s measures—like scheduling blackouts and building solar parks—have proven insufficient, hampered by a lack of investment and proper management.
As if the energy crisis weren’t enough, Cuba was also hit hard by Tropical Storm Imelda, which brought heavy rain to the northern Caribbean and caused deadly landslides and flooding. According to the Associated Press, two people died in Santiago de Cuba province as a result of the storm. Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero confirmed the deaths on his X account, though he did not provide details. State media reported that 60-year-old Luis Mario Pérez Coiterio died following landslides in the region.
The storm’s impact was widespread. In Santiago de Cuba, flooding and landslides cut off 17 communities, affecting more than 24,000 people, as reported by the official newspaper Granma. In neighboring Guantánamo province, more than 18,000 people were evacuated, according to state-run Caribe television. Imelda, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, was located about 120 miles north of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas and was forecast to become a hurricane by Tuesday morning before spinning out to open ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The Bahamas, still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, was also in the storm’s path. Authorities closed most schools, government offices, and issued mandatory evacuation orders for some islands. Power outages were reported, and flights to and from the islands were canceled, with airports expected to reopen once conditions improved.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto, a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, churned in open waters about 295 miles southwest of Bermuda. According to AccuWeather’s lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva, Humberto was expected to cause Imelda to turn east-northeast, sparing the southeastern United States from catastrophic rainfall. "This is really what’s going to be saving the United States from really seeing catastrophic rainfall," DaSilva told the Associated Press. He described the rare Fujiwhara effect, where two storms draw closer and start rotating around each other, adding an unusual twist to an already active hurricane season.
Still, the Carolinas braced for Imelda’s rains, with heavy precipitation forecast through Tuesday morning—mostly along the coastline from Charleston, South Carolina, to Wilmington, North Carolina. Wind gusts up to 40 mph were expected, and dangerous surf conditions were anticipated all week. In preparation, South Carolina’s governor prepositioned search and rescue teams, and North Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency even before Imelda formed.
Bermuda was also on high alert, with hurricane watches in effect as authorities warned of a "double whammy"—first Humberto, then Imelda. Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s national security minister, urged residents to prepare, noting, “Hurricane Humberto is a dangerous storm, and with another system developing to our south, every household in Bermuda should take the necessary steps to be prepared."
For Cuba, the confluence of a crippling energy crisis and the wrath of Imelda has created a situation where basic needs—power, shelter, and safety—are all in jeopardy. The coming days will test the resilience of a nation already stretched to its limits.
