Energy & Resources
Power returns to Havana after Cuba grid failure
Power returned to Havana and other parts of western Cuba early Sunday after state-run electricity company UNE fixed a partial collapse of the grid that had left five of the country's 15 provinces without electricity for most of the night.
UNE said on X that service was being restored after the failure. The outage hit Havana and other western areas on Saturday evening.
UNE says fuel shortages have made Cuba's national grid more vulnerable to outages and have made diesel emergency generators almost impossible to use. The seven thermal power plants that form the backbone of the national grid have all been operating for more than 40 years and are in varying states of disrepair.
The latest failure follows repeated outages. In recent weeks, blackouts have lasted more than 30 hours in Havana and several days in other parts of Cuba. Since the start of 2026, Cuba has experienced five nationwide blackouts, including three in July within 10 days. Since late 2024, there have been 10 total power outages.
Havana blames Washington's punitive measures for the state of its electricity grid, while the United States says Cuba's government and its handling of the economy are responsible.
Cuba has also moved to change parts of its economy. On Wednesday, Havana said it would open major sectors including electricity generation, gas stations, trash collection and pharmacies to private firms.
Update
Power returned to Havana and other parts of western Cuba early Sunday.
State-run electricity company UNE said power was being restored after a partial grid collapse.
Five of Cuba's 15 provinces spent most of the night without electricity.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 12:07:31 UTC.
Update
Havana blames Washington's punitive measures for the state of Cuba's electricity grid, while the United States says Cuba's government and economic mismanagement are at fault.
The seven thermal power plants that form the backbone of Cuba's national grid have all operated for more than 40 years and are in varying states of disrepair.
Havana said it would open sectors including electricity generation to private firms.
A Havana resident described repeated outages disrupting daily life.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 03:23:12 UTC.
Update
UNE says fuel shortages have made Cuba's national grid more susceptible to outages and have made diesel emergency generators almost impossible to use.
Some recent blackouts have lasted more than 30 hours in Havana and several days in other parts of Cuba.
Cuba has experienced five nationwide blackouts since the start of 2026, including three in July within 10 days.
Since late 2024, Cuba has had 10 total power outages.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 00:36:25 UTC.
Update
Havana and other parts of western Cuba were affected.
Cuba's UNE said the grid had a partial collapse at 6:07 p.m. local time, or 2207 GMT.
The state-run electric company announced the outage on X.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 August 2026 at 00:13:25 UTC.
Source
AFP news report published on .