A disconnection in Cuba's national electric grid, triggered by a breakdown in the transmission line between the Santa Cruz and Guiteras thermoelectric plants, left the western half of the country, including Havana, without power since early Wednesday. Authorities are implementing recovery protocols to gradually restore service. The officially affected provinces are four: Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Havana, and Mayabeque.
The breakdown happened in the line connecting the Che Guevara plant in Santa Cruz del Norte to the Antonio Guiteras plant in Matanzas, causing an overload that split the system. Lázaro Guerra, general director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, explained that this left the western zone without service, while the rest of the system remains stable.
As a result, the Santa Cruz and Mariel plants in the west halted generation. The Felton plant in Holguín and Céspedes in Cienfuegos were also temporarily disconnected but are now back online and ramping up output, along with several Energás units. Four of the country's seven thermoelectric plants stopped operating; the remaining ones are Guiteras—the island's largest—Renté in Santiago de Cuba, and 10 de Octubre in Nuevitas.
Minister Vicente de la O Levy stated on social media that recovery protocols are in place and energy generation and distribution are restarting in the western third. By 10 a.m., Havana's electric company reported restoring seven substations and 45 distribution circuits, covering just 15.8% of the city. Vital services have been restored, including nine hospitals and seven key water sources. Substations in Havana such as Diezmero, Cotorro, Melones, and Naranjito, and some in Mayabeque, are being energized, with photovoltaic solar parks also starting to generate.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on social media that ministry officials 'do not rest' and linked the failure to the US 'blockade' and Hurricane Melissa, which hit eastern Cuba a month ago. An initial report mentioned impacts from Cienfuegos to Pinar del Río, but it was updated to the four provinces. Residents in Holguín reported outages, though it's unclear if they are local or part of the national collapse.
The incident is similar to one in October that caused a partial disconnection in eastern provinces. On the previous Monday, the Electric Company recorded a record deficit of 2,105 megawatts (MW), with demand around 3,250 MW, leaving about 65% of needs unmet. Since October 2024, the island has endured five total blackouts, the most recent in September due to the unexpected shutdown of Guiteras.