Cuba's electrical grid generates considerably less power than demand requires, leaving the system with no buffer to handle equipment failures when they occur. A fire at the Santa Cruz del Norte facility on the evening of 16 October left the grid facing a projected shortfall of 2,190 MW at peak demand, according to estimates from the Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (UNE) — a gap that reflected the system's limited capacity to handle unplanned outages.
Figures from the UNE put Friday evening's power consumption at 2,900 MW against a supply of just 740 MW. Those figures appeared in coverage from Periódico Cubano as well as from a separate outlet regarded as a reliable news source.
At 11:31 a.m., a notice from the UNE confirmed that generating capacity at the Felton facility in Holguín had gone down, with neither the affected unit nor any underlying cause identified in the disclosure — details drawn from coverage by a news channel and Periódico Cubano. No revised figure appeared in any of the reviewed materials, as the data predated the updated projection issued that morning.
Power cuts affecting large numbers of Cuban households stretched beyond 20 consecutive hours over a span of several days. Cuba's electrical grid has collapsed completely on eight separate occasions so far this year, based on coverage from OnCuba and a second outlet characterised as reliable.
According to OnCuba's tally, two incidents were recorded in March, followed by three more across July 6, 10, and 14, then two additional ones on August 2 and 3, with the most recent occurring on September 18. According to OnCuba, the UNE attributed the power disruption on 18 September to a fault along a section of the 220 kV transmission line running between Matanzas and Cienfuegos.
Rebuilding the grid after each outage draws on power accumulated gradually from available sources — solar installations, hydroelectric facilities, and engine-driven generators — making the restoration process a measured one. A 28-hour outage on July 6 left the network without service, with fuel shortages hampering the restoration effort.
OnCuba's coverage identifies thermal plants as the backbone of the island's electricity supply, noting that worn equipment, outdated technology, and a shortage of available spare parts have left those facilities struggling to maintain consistent output. According to a Friday morning status update from the UNE, nine of the country's generating units were offline — six having broken down and three undergoing maintenance — out of a total fleet of 16 units, as tallied by OnCuba and corroborated by Periódico Cubano alongside another news outlet.
Data published by OnCuba that month, drawing on UNE figures, noted that as many as nine or ten generation units had periodically gone offline, leaving available capacity hovering around 1,000 MW while total demand ran at roughly 3,200 MW. Documented fault events at the Antonio Guiteras facility in Matanzas — a generating unit that OnCuba identifies as the country's largest single installation, rated at roughly 220 MW — had surpassed 15 separate occurrences by July, a figure drawn from independent outlets as relayed by OnCuba.
A substantial backlog in capital upkeep has been noted by those in charge, with a comprehensive renewal pushed back once more to beyond the end of 2025. According to coverage from both Martí Noticias and Periódico Cubano, the Guiteras power plant was taken offline on October 14 after a leak developed in one of its economizer units.
Operational failures at Santa Cruz del Norte — a facility brought online in 1991 using Soviet-era equipment — were documented across four separate months: February, April, May, and July, according to Periódico Cubano and one other news outlet. Two outlets covering the Cuban power sector have outlined what they describe as a self-reinforcing cycle: as generating capacity contracts, the shortfall widens, outages stretch longer, and the units still running are pushed toward the point of breakdown — a pattern that, according to those same reports, is compounded by ageing infrastructure and limited fire-safety provisions.
Estimates from OnCuba in September and a separate news outlet in March put the island's daily oil requirement at roughly 100,000 barrels, against domestic output of around 40,000. Two outlets covering Cuban affairs report a halt in oil deliveries from Venezuela and Mexico — nations that had until recently served as the island's primary sources — with one of the two publications attributing the drop specifically to a reduction in Mexican shipments.
An executive order posted by the White House on January 29 put a national emergency into effect regarding Cuba and opened the door to tariffs on petroleum shipments reaching the island from third-party nations. OnCuba has characterised the situation as a petroleum blockade, while also reporting that Cuban authorities attribute the power grid's deteriorated condition to that external pressure alongside the infrastructure's outdated design.
According to reporting by OnCuba and Periódico Cubano on October 14, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy stated that no Cuban state-owned company had obtained a fuel contract, and that privately arranged imports account for under 3% of the country's total demand. According to data from the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, cited by Periódico Cubano, American companies shipped $231.7 million worth of fuel to Cuban private-sector enterprises between January and August, a figure the minister corroborated by noting that such deliveries are directed toward private businesses rather than state entities.
On 31 March, the tanker Anatoli Kolodkin delivered roughly 100,000 tonnes of crude oil to Matanzas — the first such shipment to reach the port in three months — and as of 12 October, OnCuba indicated that no further cargo of that kind had come in, a detail originally flagged by a television news outlet. According to a report published by OnCuba in August, generation units running on fuel oil at Moa and Mariel, along with two Turkish-owned power barges operating in Havana, had each gone offline for extended stretches due to an absence of fuel, while the smaller distributed-generation engine facilities scattered across the grid were similarly tied to diesel supplies.
By August, OnCuba reported that 54 solar installations were connected to the national grid, with daily generation touching heights above 700 MW on certain occasions. Directorio Cubano placed the energy minister's October figure at roughly 1,400 MW of nameplate solar capacity spread across 144 parks — a total reflecting rated potential rather than the power those facilities deliver at any given moment.
Because photovoltaic generation tapers off after sunset, grid infrastructure and battery storage capacity both require expansion to handle the demand spike that arrives each evening. According to OnCuba, a third batch of 5,000 solar units — intended for off-grid households and community buildings — reached the country in September, with the broader rollout drawing financial and logistical support from China.
Solar energy has drawn coverage as a viable path over the longer horizon, though the coverage also acknowledges that the technology cannot close the gap in electricity supply that communities are currently contending with. Analysts working outside any institutional interest have placed the price tag for overhauling the system at figures running into the billions.
Decree-Law 135, covering oil and gas concessions of up to 30 years and published as entry number 85 in the Official Gazette on October 12, takes effect a week later on October 19, according to reporting from OnCuba and Directorio Cubano. Those involved in the legislative process have noted that passing such legislation addresses only part of what would be required to draw the investment the country is seeking.
Cuba's ONEI statistics bureau placed year-on-year price growth in the formal economy at 28.44% for September, a figure cited by OnCuba drawing on reporting from a broadcast news outlet.
