Grid failure plunges Cuba into nationwide blackout

What the report says

Cuba’s national power grid collapsed on Sunday, causing a nationwide blackout, according to Al Jazeera’s report citing the state-run Electric Union, or UNE. The failure came after a weekend of outages and against a backdrop of long-running fuel shortages and strain on the island’s aging electricity system. UNE said the grid had collapsed on X, but it did not immediately explain the cause, the scale of the disruption, or a timeline for restoration.

Before the system-wide breakdown, Havana’s utility had already reported problems linked to damaged transformers, circuit failures and planned cuts tied to limited generating capacity. Reuters, as cited by Al Jazeera, reported unresolved outage complaints in several municipalities, including Guanabacoa, Habana del Este, La Lisa and Marianao. Authorities usually respond to a total grid collapse by creating small islanded power networks to serve hospitals, water systems and food facilities first, then reconnect larger plants gradually.

The blackout is the latest in a series of major power failures in Cuba this year. Al Jazeera noted that the grid collapsed three times within nine days in July, with one outage affecting about 10 million people. The article said Cuba’s electricity sector has been weakened by fuel and spare-parts shortages, repeated breakdowns at thermoelectric plants and years of limited maintenance. The government blames US restrictions, while other observers point to underinvestment and mismanagement. Extended outages have continued to disrupt transport, water supply, communications, healthcare and daily life across the island.