Due to the collapse of the electrical system

Life unfolding… Havana this Friday, at the corner of Aguila and Reina streets. / 14ymedio

Havana is dealing with a total blackout as well as disruptions to its piped gas supply.

By 14ymedio

HAVANA TIMES – The eighth total shutdown of the National Electric System (SEN) so far in 2026 once again left Cuba without any electricity this Friday. “There has been a total disconnection of the Electric System. Recovery protocols are already beginning to be activated,” the Ministry of Energy and Mines reported.

The state Electric Company said that the 220 kV Matanzas-Cienfuegos transmission line tripped first, followed by the Matanzas-Santa Clara line. Initially, the system was split between the eastern and western regions until, minutes later, the SEN suffered a total shutdown. They also noted that unstable weather conditions had been identified in the area.

The blackout follows seven complete shutdowns recorded since March. The first two occurred on March 16 and 21; in July, the SEN went down three more times, on the 6th, 10th and 14th; and in early August there were two successive collapses, on August 2 and 3. The latter occurred while authorities were still trying to restore the system following the previous collapse.

The frequency of the collapses has accelerated: after more than three months between the March outages and the next ones, July saw three in just eight days, while the two in August occurred less than 24 hours apart.

A total power outage means the few hours a day that residents receive electricity are naught. 

In Havana, the outage caught many residents by surprise after they had only recently regained service following the usual power cuts. “Just when they came to replace the transformers here,” lamented a resident of Luyano.

In Centro Habana, one woman was somewhat luckier. “I had had electricity for several hours, and I had time to charge the rechargeable lamps and the power station so I could get through this new shutdown,” she told 14ymedio.

The situation in the capital is further complicated by problems with the piped cooking gas supply. “At this time, the supply of natural gas to our facilities is being maintained, although the volumes received are still insufficient to reach the pressure levels needed to restore service to the population,” the Manufactured Gas Company reported this Friday. If that stability continues, it added, “a gradual improvement is expected during the night and early Saturday morning.”

The successive collapses are occurring in a system that has been affected for years by aging thermoelectric plants, fuel shortages, and difficulties carrying out maintenance and repairs. In addition to this year’s total shutdowns, there have also been several partial disconnections.

On August 1, a failure separated several western provinces from the system, and on August 27, another disturbance isolated the eastern region, from Holguín to Guantánamo. A partial collapse on March 4 also left much of the country without electricity.

Authorities have not specified how long it might take to restore the SEN this time. As in previous shutdowns, recovery involves creating small isolated electrical systems, gradually bringing generating units back online, and reconnecting the different regions until the national grid is once again fully integrated.

First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

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