Cuba has largely no electricity after the collapse of the national power grid
Cuba largely lost power on Saturday morning after the collapse of the island country’s power grid, knocking on 10 million people and raising new questions about the feasibility of its outdated power generation system.
At sunrise, the island’s grid operator UNE said it would generate only a drop of electricity — about 225 MW, or less than 10% of total demand, enough to cover some important services such as hospitals, water and food production centers.
Cuba strives to rebuild electrical services after the second grid collapses
Officials said they have begun developing decades-old plants in the country, but have not given a timeline for restoring services.
UNE officials said Cuba’s power grid aged on the transmission line of the Havana substation at around 8:15 pm on Friday (0015 GMT), and started a chain reaction in Havana’s short-distance hand-transmission, completely shutting down power generation across the island.
People walk on the street during a national electrical grid crash in Havana, Cuba on March 14, 2025. (Reuters/Northern Perez)
The grid collapse came after a series of nationwide power outages late last year that put Cuba’s fragile power generation system into almost complete chaos as fuel shortages, natural disasters and economic crises underscore.
Most Cubans outside the country’s capital Havana have lived for months, while the rolling power outage has peaked in 20 hours a day in recent weeks.
Saturday morning, Havana still has no electricity. The intersection of light traffic navigation is invalid and the cellular Internet is weak or non-existent in some ways.
Abel Bonne chatted with friends on Malecon Waterfront Boulevard in Havana earlier Saturday, after a slump night without motivation and greeted with fresh sea breezes.
“Now, no one knows when strength will be restored,” he said. “This is the first time this year, but it happened three times last year.”
Severe food, drugs and water shortages have made life increasingly unbearable for many Cubans, and people have fled the island in record numbers in recent years.
Cuba blamed its economic hardship on the Cold War-era U.S. trade embargo, a network of laws and regulations that complicated financial transactions and acquired essentials such as fuel and spare parts.
A grid official on Saturday morning said Cuba could not update outdated transmission and power generation components due to restrictions.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently stepped up sanctions on the island’s communist government, vowing to restore a long-term “hard” policy for the enemy of the United States.
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Havana resident Yunior Reyes, a bicycle taxi driver, returned to work Saturday morning despite the power outage, which left his food stocks likely to be destroyed in the heat of the day.
“We’re all in the same situation,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”
