Swaths of Cuba remained without power on Thursday nearly a day after a massive blackout hit the western part of the island in the latest outage blamed on a fragile electric grid and a lack of fuel.
Crews worked overnight to repair a broken boiler at one of Cuba’s largest thermoelectric plants, but officials have warned that it could take three to four days for power to be fully restored.
State media reported that nearly 297,000 customers in Havana, or 34%, had power, as well as 37 hospitals and five water supply stations.
Cuba’s Electric Union wrote on X that the electrical system is operating “in a limited capacity, prioritizing basic services, primarily health and water supply.”
State media reported that two power plants are offline due to a lack of petroleum.
Cuba has long struggled with an aging electric grid and intermittent fuel supplies, but the crisis has deepened in recent months.
Key oil shipments from Venezuela were halted after the United States attacked the South American country in early January. Then later that month, U.S. President Donald Trump warned he would impose tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba.
Last month, Cuba’s government implemented austere fuel-saving measures and warned that jet fuel wouldn’t be available at nine airports until mid-March.
Wednesday’s outage is the second one to hit western Cuba in three months.
The outage in early December lasted nearly 12 hours. Officials said a fault in a transmission line linking two power plants caused an overload and led to the collapse of the energy system’s western sector.
Some of Cuba's thermoelectric plants have been operating for over 30 years and receive little maintenance because of the high cost. U.S. sanctions also have prevented the government from buying new equipment and specialized parts, officials say.
