Cuba says crews repaired a large power plant that caused a massive outage

Cuba’s Largest Power Plant Set to Restart After Widespread Blackout

Cuban officials announced Saturday they expect to bring the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant back online after repairs to a broken boiler that caused a massive power outage across western Cuba earlier this week.

Felix Estrada Rodríguez, a senior engineer at Cuba’s Electric Union, told state-owned Canal Caribe that the plant should resume operations by Saturday afternoon following days of careful repair work.

“It is a confined space with a high temperature,” Estrada Rodríguez explained, emphasizing the delicate nature of the repairs that required methodical safety protocols.

The outage, which began Wednesday, left millions without electricity across the island’s western region, including the capital Havana. By Saturday morning, Cuba’s Electric Union reported that only 1,000 megawatts of power were available, less than half of the country’s current demand, though officials did not specify exactly how many customers remained without service.

This blackout marks the second major power failure to affect western Cuba in just three months, highlighting the increasingly precarious state of the nation’s energy infrastructure. Energy experts point to two critical factors behind Cuba’s power crisis: an aging electrical grid suffering from decades of underinvestment and severe fuel shortages.

Cuba’s energy vulnerability has been exacerbated by recent geopolitical developments affecting its oil supply chain. The island nation imports most of its oil from Venezuela, but these vital shipments have been disrupted following U.S. actions against the South American country, including the arrest of high-ranking Venezuelan officials earlier this year.

The timing of the energy crisis is particularly challenging for ordinary Cubans, who are already contending with economic hardships, including food shortages and inflation. Daily activities from refrigeration to cooking have been compromised by the unreliable power supply, with businesses and medical facilities particularly affected.

“This is more than just a temporary inconvenience,” said Jorge Piñon, an energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in Cuba’s energy sector, in a recent interview. “The combination of infrastructure decay and fuel shortages has created a perfect storm for Cuba’s energy sector.”

The Antonio Guiteras plant, located in Matanzas province about 60 miles east of Havana, is one of Cuba’s largest and most important power facilities. When functioning at full capacity, it contributes approximately 280 megawatts to the national grid, making its operational status critical to the country’s overall power stability.

Further complicating Cuba’s energy outlook, U.S. President Donald Trump warned earlier this year that his administration would impose tariffs on any country selling or supplying oil to Cuba, potentially limiting alternative supply options as the island seeks to diversify beyond Venezuelan imports.

Energy analysts suggest Cuba’s power crisis is unlikely to improve significantly in the near term without substantial investment in infrastructure modernization and reliable access to fuel supplies. The government has announced various energy projects, including investments in renewable energy, but these initiatives will take years to meaningfully impact the grid’s reliability.

As repair crews worked through the night to restore the Guiteras plant, residents across western Cuba continued to adapt to intermittent power service, with many households relying on candles, battery-powered lamps, and community solidarity to manage through the extended outage.

The Cuban government has not announced specific measures to prevent similar failures in the future, though energy independence has been identified as a strategic priority in recent policy statements.