- Title: Cuba restores power after second grid collapse as stability concerns linger
- Date: 23rd March 2026
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (MARCH 22, 2026) (REUTERS) CAR MOVING ALONG MALECON AVENUE PEOPLE GATHERING AT MALECON SEAWALL PEOPLE SITTING ON MALECON SEAWALL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRIVATE SECTOR WORKER, MAIKEL PENA, 44, SAYING: "The thermoelectric plants breaking down one after another, the lack of oil, the supposed blockade, or the blockade, I don't know, and in the end those who are suf
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: BLACKOUT ELECTRICAL GRID ELECTRICITY HAVANA POWER POWER RESTORED SEN
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003645323032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cuba had restored power to nearly half of the capital Havana by Sunday (March 22) afternoon, officials said, less than 24 hours after the national grid collapsed for the second time in a week amid a U.S. oil blockade that has dealt a major blow to the island's already ailing energy infrastructure.
The grid failed Saturday (March 21) evening at 6:32 p.m. (2232 GMT) after a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Cuba's Camaguey province, went offline, grid operator UNE said, causing a cascade effect that knocked out power to the nation's approximately 10 million people.
Nearly 500,000 homes and businesses in Havana - approximately 55% of the total - as well as 43 hospitals, were back online by Sunday afternoon, UNE said. The grid operator was also preparing to fire the country's largest oil-fired power plant and expected it to be operating by day's end, sharply boosting generation.
Life carried on as normal across most of Havana despite the ongoing blackouts, which have become a regular part of the daily routine in the capital even when the national grid is operational.
Outlying provinces also reported a gradual restoration of power, though a dramatic shortage of diesel fuel means only a portion of the grid's capacity is available for generation, meaning many areas will continue to see lengthy blackouts despite restoration efforts, officials said.
Cuba's electrical grid has been teetering on the edge of collapse and unreliable for months, with hours, and sometimes day-long blackouts the norm, but two nationwide blackouts in the space of a week is exceptional.
U.S. President Donald Trump began taking measures to block oil from reaching the Caribbean island after Washington deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3. Venezuela had previously provided oil to its close ally on favorable terms. Since then, Trump has cut off Venezuelan exports to Cuba and threatened other countries with punitive tariffs if they sell oil to the island.
Cuba has long blamed the U.S. trade embargo for economic failures including its obsolete power grid, while Washington has attributed the shortfalls to Cuba's Soviet-style command economy.
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