Cuba suffers third nationwide blackout of 2026 amid worsening fuel crisis
Key Points(5)
- Cuba suffered its third nationwide power outage of the year on Monday as the island struggles with a deepening energy crisis worsened by fuel shortages and an increasingly strained electricity grid.
- The state electricity company, Unión Eléctrica (UNE), said the country had experienced “a total disconnection from the national electricity generation system” and that it was investigating the cause.
- The blackout marks the eighth nationwide outage to hit the island of 9.6 million people since late 2024.
- Cuba was already facing severe electricity shortages before an oil blockade further depleted fuel supplies needed to operate the country’s aging power plants.
- The government has imposed lengthy scheduled blackouts, with some areas of Havana experiencing outages lasting more than 24 hours and some rural communities facing interruptions exceeding 70 hours.
Cuba suffered its third nationwide power outage of the year on Monday as the island struggles with a deepening energy crisis worsened by fuel shortages and an increasingly strained electricity grid.
The state electricity company, Unión Eléctrica (UNE), said the country had experienced “a total disconnection from the national electricity generation system” and that it was investigating the cause.
The blackout marks the eighth nationwide outage to hit the island of 9.6 million people since late 2024.
Cuba was already facing severe electricity shortages before an oil blockade further depleted fuel supplies needed to operate the country’s aging power plants. The government has imposed lengthy scheduled blackouts, with some areas of Havana experiencing outages lasting more than 24 hours and some rural communities facing interruptions exceeding 70 hours.
Authorities have blamed the accelerating pace of blackouts on a lack of fuel needed to operate generators that help support the country’s aging national power grid.
Since January, the United States has allowed only one oil tanker — from Russia — to dock in Cuba, according to authorities.
The fuel shortages, combined with US sanctions targeting the Cuban government and foreign companies doing business with the island, have pushed the country’s economic crisis deeper, with shortages of food, drinking water and medicine becoming increasingly severe.
The United Nations has warned of a growing humanitarian emergency as living conditions deteriorate.
Cuba has invested heavily in solar energy as part of efforts to reduce dependence on imported fuel, but renewable sources still account for only about 10% of the country’s energy mix.
