On Saturday, October 11, 2025, Havana and several other regions across Cuba were plunged into darkness once again, as a new wave of power outages swept through the country. The immediate culprit was a fault in the 9020-9015 transmission lines, which connect the Naranjito and Melones substations. This disruption triggered an explosion at the Talla Piedra substation, a stark symbol of the deepening crisis gripping Cuba’s National Electric System (SEN). According to the Havana Electric Company (EELH), the capital endured more than eight hours without power, peaking at a deficit of 108 megawatts (MW) at 7:00 p.m.
But the night’s troubles didn’t end there. As reported by both the Havana Electric Company and the Union Electric Company, the situation worsened dramatically at 11:40 p.m. when the Felton 1 unit unexpectedly shut down due to a boiler leak. This pushed the shortfall up to 120 MW. The power restoration process was slow going: it began at 1:04 a.m. on Sunday and wasn’t fully completed until 3:46 a.m., leaving many residents frustrated and exhausted.
Initially, EELH had planned to cut power to blocks 2, 5, 6, and 1 at various points throughout Saturday. However, these planned outages were ultimately avoided. Still, the company warned that future interruptions would depend on the stability—or lack thereof—of the national grid. As for the explosion at Talla Piedra, neither EELH nor the Union Electric Company offered new details, only confirming that service in affected areas had been restored. The silence left many Cubans searching for answers as to the cause and future risk of such incidents.
The woes in Havana are just a snapshot of a much broader national crisis. The Union Electric Company reported that the SEN was operating at critical levels throughout the country. On Saturday, Cuba endured a grueling 24 hours of rolling blackouts, with the national shortfall peaking at 1,584 MW at 7:00 p.m. By 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 12, national capacity stood at just 1,480 MW—far short of the 2,520 MW required to meet demand. That left a staggering 1,029 MW deficit, which officials expected to rise to 1,300 MW by midday.
So what’s behind this seemingly endless energy crisis? The answer is a complicated blend of mechanical failures, scheduled maintenance, and chronic fuel shortages. Key units are offline: both units 1 and 2 at the Felton plant, unit 8 at Mariel, and unit 3 at Renté are all suffering breakdowns. Scheduled maintenance at unit 2 of Santa Cruz del Norte and unit 4 of Cienfuegos has dragged on, leaving those units unavailable. In total, 422 MW are out of service due to thermal limitations, while 47 distributed generation plants are down because there simply isn’t enough fuel to run them. That’s another 285 MW gone, with an additional 327 MW sidelined due to a lack of lubricants. All told, fuel shortages alone are keeping 612 MW offline—numbers that would make any grid operator wince.
Efforts to diversify Cuba’s energy mix haven’t done much to ease the pain. The country’s 32 photovoltaic solar parks managed to produce just 2,443 megawatt-hours (MWh) over the course of a day, with a peak output of 318 MW. It’s a step in the right direction, but a small one: national demand during Sunday’s evening peak was expected to hit 3,250 MW, leaving solar power woefully insufficient. The government’s hopes are pinned, at least in part, on the startup of unit 3 at the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant, which is expected to add just 70 MW to the grid. Even with that addition, officials are projecting a shortfall of 1,680 MW during peak hours and warning that the total impact could reach 1,750 MW if conditions don’t improve.
For ordinary Cubans, these numbers translate into a daily struggle. Blackouts that last for hours, sometimes entire days, have become the norm. The obsolescence of the electrical system, the chronic fuel shortages, the deterioration of thermoelectric plants, and the limited capacity for renewable generation all combine to make life harder. Food spoils in powerless refrigerators, household chores pile up, and medical equipment sits idle. The sweltering summer heat only makes things worse, and the frustration is palpable. As one resident vented on social media, “We are tired of excuses. We need real solutions, not just promises.”
Citizens across the island have taken to social media to express their discontent, sharing stories of hardship and demanding accountability from authorities. The lack of effective communication and concrete action from officials has only fueled public anger. Many feel that the government’s attempts to diversify the energy matrix—while perhaps well-intentioned—are falling far short of what’s needed to address a crisis of this magnitude.
The government, for its part, continues to issue updates and outline strategies for recovery. But without a significant increase in fuel supplies, a rapid overhaul of aging infrastructure, or a breakthrough in renewable energy capacity, the outlook remains bleak. The persistent gap between supply and demand means that more blackouts are almost certainly on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the question on everyone’s mind is: when will relief finally arrive? For now, there are no easy answers. The cycle of breakdowns, maintenance delays, and fuel shortages appears likely to continue, at least in the short term. Even the small gains from new solar parks or the startup of a single thermoelectric unit are quickly swallowed up by the scale of the deficit.
To many, these blackouts are no longer a surprise. They have become a grim part of daily life, a reminder of how fragile Cuba’s energy system really is. As the country braces for yet another round of outages, the calls for lasting solutions—and for leaders to step up and deliver them—are growing ever louder.
Until then, Cubans will keep adapting, finding ways to get by in the dark, and hoping that the lights will stay on just a little longer next time.