Cuba’s National Electric System (SEN) collapsed from Camagüey to Pinar del Río due to the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the largest in the country
14ymedio, Havana, 4 March 2026 — An unexpected breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas has caused a blackout across more than half of the country, from Camagüey to Pinar del Río, on Wednesday. All of Havana is currently without power.
According to a brief statement from the National Electric Union (UNE), the Guiteras hydroelectric plant tripped around 12:41 pm due to a leak in the boiler. The state-owned company assured that “all protocols for restoring the National Electric System (SEN) are already in place.”
La Guiteras is the largest and most important generating unit in the country and its shutdown from the system usually causes far-reaching effects due to the structural fragility of the SEN, which operates with a chronic generation deficit, frequent breakdowns in thermoelectric plants and limitations in fuel supply.
This is the first time this year that the system has collapsed, something that occurred several times in previous years. Between late 2024 and early 2025 , several nationwide or regional outages were recorded, some caused by failures in key units and others by extreme generation deficits, which forced the shutdown of entire blocks to prevent further damage. On several occasions, the total failure of the National Electric System (SEN) left the country in darkness for hours, with slow and phased restoration processes by microsystems.
The prolonged disruptions have impacted economic activity, transportation, telecommunications and water supply, in addition to exacerbating citizen discontent amid daily blackouts that, in some provinces, exceed 20 hours.
So far, the UNE has not specified how long it will take to fully restore service to the affected areas, which comes at a time of extreme crisis, exacerbated by the US oil blockade established after the intervention in Caracas on January 3.
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