Mar 5, 2026, 9:22 amMar 5, 2026, 9:22 am
Millions of people in Cuba are once again without electricity. The cause was a malfunction in the country’s largest thermal power plant east of the capital Havana, the socialist Caribbean island’s electricity supplier announced on Wednesday (local time).
Millions of people in Cuba are without electricity.Image: keystone
As a result, the supply between the provinces of Pinar del Río in the west and Camagüey in the east almost completely collapsed.
The capital Havana is also affected. The repair work could take three days, it said. The fault was found in the lower part of a boiler, where a pipe burst.
Dilapidated power grid
Power outages are common on the island, which is popular with tourists. Large parts of the outdated infrastructure are in poor condition. As a result, power plants are repeatedly taken off the grid and have to be repaired. The government attributes the crisis to the US trade embargo that has existed for more than 60 years.
The US Embassy warned of significant disruption as the outage also affected water supplies and communications networks.
The situation has worsened in the wake of recent tensions between Cuba and the United States. The country has not received oil from Venezuela since December, as US President Donald Trump ordered a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers carrying supplies from the sister South American country. Cuba, with around ten million inhabitants, relies on oil for electricity.
Trump also threatened tariffs against Cuba’s oil suppliers. As a result, Mexico, most recently Cuba’s largest oil supplier, stopped its deliveries. Washington has now announced that it will be easing certain sanctions for humanitarian reasons.
Because of the lack of fuel, many Cubans only cook with wood and coal. The daily power outages, which already lasted for hours, have become even more severe. The government ordered drastic measures to save fuel. Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy wrote on X on Wednesday that the situation was complicated. (dab/sda/dpa)