Cuba was plunged into darkness on Saturday after a nationwide power grid collapse left the entire island without electricity, marking the third major outage this month.
The state-run Cuban Electric Union, which operates under the Ministry of Energy and Mines, initially confirmed the blackout without giving a cause. Hours later, officials said the outage was triggered by the sudden failure of a generating unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey province.
According to the Ministry, the breakdown led to a cascading failure across multiple power stations, causing a total collapse of the national grid.
Read related news: Nationwide Internet blackout hits Afghanistan as taliban tighten restrictions
Engineers quickly activated emergency “micro-islands” — small, isolated power systems — to supply electricity to essential services such as hospitals, water facilities, and critical infrastructure. Authorities said efforts are ongoing to restore power nationwide.
The latest outage highlights Cuba’s worsening energy crisis, driven by ageing infrastructure and severe fuel shortages. Power cuts have become more frequent across the country, with some regions experiencing outages lasting up to 12 hours daily.
Saturday’s blackout is the second nationwide outage within a week and the third in March alone, raising concerns about the stability of the country’s electricity network.
The repeated failures have disrupted daily life across the island, affecting working hours, food storage, and essential services. Hospitals have also been forced to cancel some surgical procedures due to power shortages.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel recently disclosed that Cuba has not received oil from foreign suppliers for three months. The country currently produces only about 40 percent of the fuel needed to sustain its economy.
While the government has acknowledged the decline of the power grid, it has also blamed the ongoing crisis on United States sanctions. In January, former US President Donald Trump warned of tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba and called for political and economic reforms.
Cuba’s fuel situation has also been affected by reduced support from Venezuela, once a key supplier of petroleum to the island.
As authorities work to restore electricity, the latest blackout has renewed concerns about the country’s energy security and the growing challenges facing its economy.
