Cuba’s power grid collapsed on Saturday, plunging the entire island into darkness for the third time in March, according to the Cuban Electric Union. The blackout follows a previous nationwide outage earlier this week, highlighting the deepening energy crisis in the communist state.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines attributed the collapse to an unexpected failure of a generating unit at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant in Camagüey province. This triggered a cascading effect on other online machines, forcing authorities to create micro-islands of generators to supply power to hospitals, water systems and other vital centres.
Power cuts have become increasingly common in Cuba over the past two years, caused by the deterioration of ageing infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages. Daily blackouts lasting up to 12 hours have destabilised the grid. President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that the island has not received oil from foreign suppliers for three months, producing barely 40 per cent of its fuel needs.
The government has blamed the outages on a US energy blockade, intensified by President Donald Trump’s tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba. Trump has demanded the release of political prisoners and economic liberalisation in exchange for sanctions relief, while raising the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the island.
The blackouts severely disrupt daily life, reducing work hours, causing food spoilage and limiting cooking facilities. Saturday's collapse marks the third nationwide blackout in March, following one on Monday and earlier in the month.
