Cuba’s National Grid Fails Again: Five Provinces, Including Havana, Black Out

Cuba’s National Electricity Company confirmed that five of the country’s fifteen provinces—including the capital, Havana—experienced a nationwide power outage on Saturday evening, 1 August 2026. The blackout followed a partial failure in the national electrical system (SEN), which occurred at 6:07 p.m. local time (22:07 GMT), according to a statement posted by the Cuban Electricity Company (UNE) on the platform X.

System-wide collapse and repeated failures

The company reported that damage to the grid triggered the partial system failure, affecting western regions of the island, including Havana. Earlier in mid-July, the National Electricity Company had already announced a full shutdown of the national grid—the third such nationwide outage in under ten days. That incident caused a new island-wide power interruption.

This latest event marks the third complete national blackout since the start of July and the fifth such total grid failure recorded in Cuba so far in 2026. Authorities did not immediately disclose the cause of the most recent failure.

Economic crisis and oil embargo

Cuba is enduring its worst economic crisis in decades—a situation exacerbated by a U.S. oil embargo imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in January. The embargo has intensified existing energy shortages across the island.

For years, Cuban citizens have routinely experienced electricity outages due to the deteriorating condition of power generation facilities. Most of these plants date back to the Soviet era and are now in poor operational condition.