With a record electricity deficit, some hospitals, such as the Lidia and Clodomina polyclinic in Regla, look like ghost buildings.
14ymedio, Juan D. Rodríguez/ Darío Hernández, Havana, 29 June 2025 — When Vladimir read that the Electric Company (UNE) was expected to have a deficit of 1,977 megawatts (MW) by Saturday night, he knew that it was not by chance that it would affect a neighborhood like his without hospitals or hotels. He went up to the roof of his house in Nuevo Vedado and reinstalled the hammock that, during the last week, had been his bed in the dark nights under the sky of Havana.
His prognosis hit the nail on the head while that of the UNE, although a little below, also came close. At the time of maximum affect, the national electric system (SEN) reported a shortage of 1,936 MW, the second record deficit in the last week, as last Tuesday’s of 1,901 MW.
For this Sunday, the authorities expect to lower the allocation with the entry of several units to the SEN [National Electrical System], and they predict a shortage of 1,753 MW in peak hours. It is expected that by then they will have already synchronized unit 6 of the thermoelectric power plant of Mariel, with 80 MW; unit 6 of Nuevitas (Camagüey) with 100 MW, and two plants of Energas: Boca de Jaruco with 30 MW and Varadero with 30 MW.
Unit 2 of Santa Cruz (Mayabeque), 4 of Cienfuegos, 5 of Nuevitas and 5 of Renté in Santiago de Cuba are also under maintenance.
The authorities also want to incorporate 40 generating plants “which are out of fuel, because of the shortage.” These are, however, a small part of the total of 111 plants of this type that are out of service, leaving behind about 860 MW.
In the streets, the discomfort of the Cubans is seen in the faces of passers-by and despairing mothers who fan their children. “My neighbors are timid, they think that the UNE workers are having a hard time with this area,” says Vladimir, who from the sidewalk, where he sits to catch some fresh air, hears the comments of frustration.
“I went to buy cigarettes and the woman who sells them said she couldn’t grab a wink of sleep last night. She told me: ’This is criminal, boy.’ I felt sorry for her, but I’m the same way, walking like a zombie,” he confesses .
“I hear my neighbors complaining that they have sleepless nights, that they don’t have anything for breakfast and that the internet comes and goes,” he explains. Vladimir says that in the last few days the blackouts have given him no respite. “They put on the power on at night and remove it from 1:00 to 4:00 in the morning. Then, at 6:20, another blackout,” he says, frustrated.
The Habanero says that he barely has time to charge his devices and, although he has a small solar panel on his roof, the energy he manages to store is not enough to survive the hot nights.
“It would be much better to live near a hospital, because they always have power,” he says, but life is not easy for those who have the geographical position in their favor. “My aunt lives near a polyclinic, so she almost always has electricity, but yesterday she had to come here to rest for a while, because the neighbors are driving her crazy asking her to let them charge their cellphones,” he explains.
Nor does living near a medical center guarantee that there will be power. In a visit to Guanabacoa and Regla, this newspaper found that while an office of the State telecommunications company Etecsa and a gas station had electricity, the nearby neighborhoods were dark until 8:30 am. Even the Lidia and Clodomina polyclinics, with no one nearby, looked like a ghost building.
Meanwhile, the authorities are struggling to signal that the SEN is improving. In Rio Cauto, Granma province, they inaugurated a solar park last Tuesday, publicized this Sunday with a lot of fanfare. With a maximum contribution of 21.8 MW, it will be connected to the SEN on July 4, but its entry 10 days before is already cause for celebration by the official press.
Another photovoltaic park was launched yesterday in the municipality of Martí, in Matanzas, with the presence of Ramiro Valdés, a historic figure appointed to lead the program to stabilize the SEN. However, the 18 solar plants inaugurated since January with the help of China barely represent a power of 360 MW and only produce electricity in the optimal hours of sun.
Vladimir has no hope of those promises being fulfilled, and tonight, when the lights go out again, he will have no choice but to hang up his hammock on the roof.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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