Cuban regime admits electricity crisis is serious

The Cuban government acknowledged Wednesday that the country’s electrical system is in a "serious" state, with "long hours of blackouts" caused by the deteriorating condition of its thermoelectric plants, lack of funding for repairs, and ongoing fuel shortages."

"The situation is serious at the moment, very difficult, with long hours of blackout," said Alfredo López, director of the Cuban Electrical Union (UNE), during a Cuban television program.

In recent months, Cubans in some provinces have endured power outages lasting up to 21 hours a day, as the country’s electrical system is generating only 45 gigawatts of the 63 gigawatts it consumes daily, according to López.

"Since 2017 we have given very little maintenance"

“The severity of the blackouts is extreme,” added Argelio Jesús Abad, First Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, who also appeared on the television program.

Abad and López explained that the current situation is due to simultaneous repairs at several thermoelectric plants, a lack of funding for maintenance, and ongoing fuel shortages.

“Since 2017, we’ve done very little maintenance. Now we have a few more resources,” López explained, “which allows us to carry out some more complex work.” Both officials publicly blamed the United States for maintaining an embargo on the island, which they say restricts the "financing" that could help ease the country’s energy crisis.

Economic, political and social crisis

Cuba, which has been mired in a deep economic crisis for over four years, has a crumbling electrical system. In March, it collapsed for the fourth time in less than six months, plunging the island into darkness and cutting it off from the outside world.

The network consists of eight aging thermoelectric plants, some floating power plants leased to a Turkish company, and diesel-powered generators that Cuba must import fuel for.

Chinese efforts in Cuba

In response to the crisis, the government led by Miguel Díaz-Canel aims to install 51 Chinese-made solar parks by January 2026, which are expected to generate 1,115 megawatts—on an island currently facing a daily power deficit of around 1,600 megawatts.

The government’s official goal is to generate 2,000 megawatts of solar energy by 2030.

The regime also faces food, social, and political crises that have pushed its population to the brink of survival.