Overview
- Cuban energy authorities reported a full separation of the national grid caused by a fault in a block of a thermal power plant and have activated emergency restoration protocols.
- Power is being rebuilt region by region as crews follow stepped restoration procedures, but officials describe the situation as still unfolding.
- The government points to a chronic lack of fuel and decades-old, failure-prone thermal generators as the structural causes that make the grid vulnerable to single-point faults.
- Cuban leaders say U.S. trade actions and recent sanctions, including a designation that affects the Tourism Ministry, have reduced foreign fuel deliveries and worsened the energy crisis.
- The outages have disrupted public services and transport and increased waste removal problems, and authorities warn that continued fuel shortages and aging equipment raise the risk of more blackouts.