Cuba Suffers Another Nationwide Power Failure

The island is in darkness again. Around 8:15 p.m. on March 14, 2025, a failure at the Diezmero substation caused a significant generation loss in the western part of the country, leading to the collapse of the National Power Grid, said the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

According to the forecast of the Electric Union (UNE) for March 14, during peak hours, 42% of the country’s total service would be interrupted. Seven thermoelectric units (out of the 16 in existence) were out of service due to failures and maintenance, while 73 generator groups were unable to operate due to a lack of fuel.

Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines, wrote on his social network at 11:15 p.m. that micro-systems were already functioning in ten provinces.

This is the fourth time in five months that the island has been left in total darkness. In recent years, however, the electrical situation has become critical, with routine blackouts lasting over 20 hours a day in many localities.

On October 18, 2024, the first recent national disconnection occurred. At that time, authorities stated that the “Antonio Guiteras” Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE) suffered an “unexpected shutdown” that caused the collapse. Restoring the system took four days.

On November 6, 2024, while Hurricane Rafael was making landfall in Cuba, the national power grid was disconnected again. A month later, on December 4, the “Antonio Guiteras” plant caused another collapse due to an “automatic system failure.” That time, Cubans expressed their frustration through pot-banging protests and public demonstrations.

Presient Miguel Diaz-Canel continues to bet on the island’s electrical salvation coming from 1,000 MW of solar panel energy in 2025. So far, only two photovoltaic parks of 21.8 MW each have been installed. Canel assured that by March 2025, seven more would be inaugurated, a goal that remains to be seen.

This article was translated into English from the original in Spanish.