The UNE says that no breakdowns were reported at any of the thermoelectric plants that were operating at the time the system was disconnected.
14ymedio, Madrid, March 16, 2026 — A total shutdown of the national power grid (SEN) on Monday left the entire country in a simultaneous blackout around 2:00 PM. The Cuban Electric Union (UNE) reported the incident in a brief statement published on the Havana Electric Company’s Telegram channel, indicating that they were beginning to “implement restoration protocols,” but without providing any further explanation.
In the capital, the power went out in a strange way. “It was like turning off, turning back on, and then immediately turning off again,” said a resident of Nuevo Vedado. Residents in other provinces also reported the sudden power outage.
An hour later, in another message, the state-owned company detailed that no breakdowns were reported “in any of the thermal units that were operating at the time of the SEN disconnection.” It was precisely a breakdown at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant (CTE) in Matanzas that caused the partial blackout on March 4, which left two-thirds of the country without power, from Camagüey to Pinar del Río.
“It was like turning off, turning on, and then turning off again immediately,” says a resident of Nuevo Vedado.
Monday’s outage was the first total collapse of the National Electric System (SEN) so far in 2026, and the sixth in a year and a half on the island. Between late 2024 and early 2025, five nationwide or regional blackouts 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 collapse of the SEN left the country in darkness for hours, with restoration processes slow and phased by microsystems.
The recovery after the March 4th disaster was difficult, due to the lack of fuel – exacerbated in these two months of an oil blockade – which is necessary to operate precisely those microsystems or “microislands” to serve specific areas.
Shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon, UNE reported that “microsystems in several territories” were beginning to operate, and twenty minutes later, they assured that the Energás plant, operated with the Canadian company Sherritt in Boca de Jaruco, already had “a generating unit in service.”
As is usual in similar situations, the authorities said that “the restoration will be done gradually as conditions in the National Electric System allow.”
The Mesa Redonda [Round Table] program announced that the interview with Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga would take place at 7:00 pm
The prolonged power outages since the most recent partial system failure, which have lasted more than three days in some areas, have reignited the flames of indignation across the island, which awoke this Monday after its tenth consecutive night of pot-banging protests. The climax of these protests occurred last Friday in Morón (Ciego de Ávila), where dozens of residents took to the streets chanting “Freedom.”
The march traveled through different areas of the city to the rhythm of banging pots and pans, reached a police unit and ended in front of the headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba, where the protesters stormed the building, threw furniture and banners into the street and lit a bonfire in the middle of the public road.
Several people have been arrested for what the regime considers “acts of vandalism,” and security forces have been deployed across the country with the order of “zero impunity.”
The Mesa Redonda program announced that the interview with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga , announced last Friday by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, will take place at 7:00 pm, an unusual time, likely due to the total power outage. It is expected that during the interview, the Vice Minister, who is also the great-nephew of Fidel and Raúl Castro, will provide details about what he already confirmed to NBC News: that Cubans abroad, including those residing in the United States, will be able to invest in private businesses on the island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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