- The Director General of Electricity noted that “there were circuits that were turned off longer.”
- Two Turkish floating power plants are maintained in the country, delivering about 70 megawatts per day.
14ymedio, Madrid, 9 September 2025 — The conclusions of the Ministry of Energy and Mines report are devastating. During the month of July, the average daily time without electricity in Cuba was 15 hours and 50 minutes. In August, the slight improvement left blackouts of 14 hours and 54 minutes. These are official data that corroborate the daily suffering of Cubans, whose main present concern is power cuts. In an appearance before the press on Monday, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, general manager of Electricity, also emphasized that the figure only reflects the average, since “there were circuits were shut down longer.”
The official, who is also an engineer, explained the disconnection of the electrical system in the eastern zone this Sunday, which occurred when bad weather aggravated the situation of an already very low generation situation. “One line was already de-energized due to high voltage in the region, and the storm caused the second 220 kV line to go offline. This led to a transfer interruption, separating the eastern region from the rest of the country.”
The breakdown, which included the untimely shutdown of Unit 6 in Mariel, was resolved around 1:25 a.m., but the problems are far from over. “Currently the system is operating in a stable manner,” he said, “although there is still a deficit in generation capacity that had already been forecast.
This is the usual tone on the island. Lázaro Guerra’s appearance served to review the events of this summer, which once again marked another critical point for electricity generation in Cuba. The executive argued that July and August had been the months with the highest energy consumption in the country’s history. The coincidence of high temperatures with appliances that increasingly demand greater consumption is putting a strain on a dying electrical system for which all the plans announced in the winter are useless.
“Currently the system is operating in a stable manner,” he said, “although there is still a deficit in generation capacity that had already been forecast.”
Guerra Hernández recalled that a strategy had been designed for this year to help start the summer “under the best possible conditions,” a plan that was explained by the minister of the branch, Vicente de la O Levy, in an interview published by the official newspaper Granma in four episodes last March. One of the most important points was thermal energy, considered essential by the government because the plants are fueled by domestic crude oil. However, the schedule—as usual—has failed again due to the comings and goings of thermoelectrics that have long exceeded their useful life.
This was clearly explained at the press conference on Monday by Alfredo López Valdés, director general of the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE). “When you start dismantling, you begin to encounter problems you didn’t originally foresee,” he warned. The most prominent case is that of Unit 2 of the Ernesto Guevara Power Plant, located in Santa Cruz del Norte (Mayabeque). The manager believes that a new economizer was planned [to capture waste heat] for the boiler, but it was quickly discovered that it was also necessary to make an overheater and a reheater.
Although components were taken to the factory and Chinese welders helped, “the maintenance has taken longer than expected,” he said.
Another classic case is that of Unit 4 in Céspedes, whose maintenance revealed a defect in the pipes manufactured between 2019 and 2020. “Although the welds were certified, the appropriate technical treatment was not performed at the time,” admitted López Valdés.
The planned output at the thermoelectric plants was 27 gigawatts per hour per day, but in July it reached only 23, mainly due to recurring problems at the Antonio Guiteras plant in Matanzas. “One gigawatt per hour (GWh) no longer produced is equivalent to about one hour of average impact on all the circuits in the country,” said Guerra. He added that unit 5 at Renté (in Santiago de Cuba) did not work as expected either, although in August there was a slight improvement, with the generation of just 1 GWh more.
In addition, the forecast for distributed generation was not fulfilled, and here the disaster was greater. Of the planned 9.8 GWh, only 2.8 in July and 5.8 in August were reached. Now, said the director of the UNE, work has been carried out that allowed the recovery of more than 1,000 MW [1 GWh], including in the five largest turbines in the country, although the problem remains in the drop in imported fuel, despite the fact that the shipments of Mexican crude oil have provided a slight relief in the middle of the scarce Venezuelan oil, which now appears in dribs and drabs.
“Now, said the director of the UNE, works have been carried out that allowed the recovery of more than 1,000 MW, including in the five largest turbines in the country, although the problem remains in the drop of imported fuel.”
The same problem affected mobile generation: from the 10.2 GWh planned, 8.9 GWh were achieved. In August, with the departure on the 6th of the Turkish Suheyla Sultan patana [floating power plant], the quantity went down to 6.4 GWh. Two floating power plants are currently operating in the country, delivering about 70 megawatts (MW) per day. Although the managers did not clarify which ones, they are the Erol Bey, located in Regla and producing 63 MW, and the Belgin Sultan, which is in the port of Havana, whose function is mainly logistics but with a production capacity of up to 15 MW.
As for the Government’s great hope, renewable energy, the situation is going according to plan, but it is still greatly insufficient. At the moment, 29 of the 51 solar parks planned for this year have been synchronized, contributing 500 MW at midday. However, this power is “intermittent, so four battery storage systems have been contracted to stabilize the system,” they explained. This technology — which allows the accumulation and release of the energy produced– will be installed in the substation of Cueto in Holguín, of Bayamo in Granma, and of Cotorro y la Cuaje in Havana. “It’s a huge investment,” they said.
After nearly all forecasts failed, and the director of UNE acknowledged that “the situation is very difficult” and serious, Guerra Hernández emphasized that electrical workers—one of whom died this Monday in a work-related accident—are committed despite their dwindling numbers. “There has been no shortage of struggle, no shortage of work,” he stated.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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