Cuba’s largest blackout on Monday will leave 66% of the country without power at once

Cuba is facing another day of prolonged blackouts, with the state electricity operator estimating that the largest simultaneous outage on Monday will leave 66% of the country without power.

The Unión Eléctrica forecast generation capacity of 1,160 megawatts during the period of highest demand, against a maximum demand of 3,350 megawatts. The resulting estimated shortfall is 2,220 megawatts, representing the electricity that would be disconnected to prevent uncontrolled blackouts.

Outages in recent months have repeatedly affected more than 60% of the country at peak demand in the late afternoon and evening. The generation deficit has left many people with only a couple of hours of electricity a day. Peaceful protests involving banging pots were reported over the weekend in neighborhoods on the outskirts of Havana, where residents had endured almost three days with little electricity.

Cuba has faced a severe energy crisis since mid-2024. The situation has worsened since January because of what the Havana government calls a “genocidal” U.S. oil pressure campaign. The country’s thermal power plants are also decades old and lack the investment needed to prevent frequent breakdowns. Nearly half of Cuba’s 16 thermal generation units remain offline each day because of damage or maintenance.

Thermal plants provide 40% of the country’s energy mix and rely on domestic crude. Imported diesel and fuel oil power another 40%, but pressure on fuel supplies has forced those generators to stop. Gas and renewable sources, particularly solar power backed by China, provide the remaining 20%. Independent studies estimate that restoring the energy system would require between $8 billion and $10 billion.