Thermal power plants for endurance: Cubans live without electricity for up to 18 hours a day

Residents of Cuba remain without electricity for up to 18 hours every day. Hospitals are open, but with restrictions. There is only enough energy for vital procedures. Electricity in Havana is regularly cut off, but there is no blackout, Russian diplomats told Izvestia. A difficult situation arose after the accident at the Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant on April 6. The repair, according to experts, can take weeks. In such a situation, Cuba could seek help from Russia, which had already supported the island with oil in March. The parties could discuss energy in June. The republic was invited to the SPIEF, but has not yet received a response, Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia.

Cuba's problems amid the energy crisis

In Havana, electricity has not yet been returned after a breakdown at one of the country's main thermal power plants. Local residents told Izvestia that so far there is no talk of a complete restoration of light on the island. Power outages in Havana occur every day and last up to 18 hours, Svetlana Torres Volkova, owner of the Pa' Cuba travel agency and organizer of excursions, explained to Izvestia.

"In the provinces, electricity is turned on only for a few hours a day, the rest of the time there is no light," said a Russian woman living on the island.

There were temporary power outages in Havana before the accident, and now they are permanent, the Russian Embassy in Cuba added.

"But there was no blackout in Havana as such," the Russian diplomats clarified.

According to Torres Volkova, in Havana, however, all social, government and other services are available. In the context of the energy crisis caused by the strengthening of the US oil blockade, priority is being given to medical and biotechnology centers, as well as those facilities where electricity is vital, an informed source in Cuba told Izvestia.

"Solar panels have been installed in the homes of several families with disabled children who require round—the-clock electricity supply, in maternity hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, in a number of polyclinics, in individual banking institutions and document processing offices," the source said.

Hospitals are operating, but in very difficult conditions due to a lack of equipment, medicines and constant power outages, a local resident who wished to remain anonymous told Izvestia.

According to Latin American media, more than 96,000 patients, including over 11,000 children, are waiting in line for surgery due to power outages. The instability of the energy supply endangers the monitoring of 32,000 pregnant women and radiation therapy for 16,000 people. Nevertheless, Cuba is making extraordinary efforts to ensure the smooth operation of vital services such as hemodialysis, on which almost 3,000 people depend.

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Key industries such as nickel and cobalt production are also shutting down on the island.

Educational institutions are functioning relatively stably, an informed source added. But the schedule still had to be adapted: priority is given to full-time education in kindergartens and primary schools, and at subsequent levels the schedule is adjusted, the source added.

Private cafes are open only at certain hours and at the expense of their own resources, said a local resident.

— Russian and Canadian tourists have left Cuba completely, there are no direct flights from there, only with transfers, — said Svetlana Torres Volkova. — Now mostly locals, Europeans and other Latin Americans stay in hotels.

According to her, only a few hotels are operating. For example, the Iberostar Selection Varadero 5* is about a quarter full. Only Russian-speaking tourists living in the EU apply for excursions. But there are very few of them. Russian-speaking holidays in Cuba are now on the rise, concluded Torres Volkova.

Accidents at power plants

Many Cuban residents were left without electricity due to the failure of the Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant. It happened on April 6th. The official reason was damage to the boiler.

According to Pavel Maryshev, Director of Development at the engineering company Energia Plus LLC, the Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant runs on fuel oil, the simplest derivative of oil refining. However, this process, if performed incorrectly, can lead to a deterioration in the quality of fuel oil. In the short term, this leads to clogging of the pumps, which makes the operation of the facility impossible. There is another threat, which is the increased sulfur content in the fuel. This can lead to uncontrolled detonation, Maryshev stressed.

Before starting the repair, the boiler needs to be cooled, and this, according to Maryshev, will take more than a day — up to 36 hours. Experts believe that a complete repair can take a week or even more.

"If we take into account that 36 hours is only the cooling time, and the damage itself will not be the most critical, we can focus on a few days (from two to seven) to completely eliminate the breakdown and return the station to service," said Sergey Tolkachev, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. — If the damage is serious or there are difficulties with spare parts, the time may increase significantly.

Cuba does not have its own spare parts stocks, so downtime can last for weeks, Maryshev believes. To make matters worse, the Mariel, Rente and Nuevitas power plants are undergoing repairs. Only 1,100 MW of energy is available in the country, with a demand of 2,340 MW.

"The announcement of planned repairs at several thermal power plants at once is a dubious story," Maryshev believes. — Most likely, the problem is more structural in nature, and the scale of the repair goes beyond the current maintenance of the equipment.

Although, in general, Cuba's energy sector is very worn out and needs to be overhauled and updated. Many power plants were built decades ago, and they have not received sufficient maintenance in recent years.

In addition, on April 7, the Ernesto Che Guevara power plant, also known as the Santa Cruz del Norte thermal power plant, located in the province of Mayabeque in the north of the island, went down. The reason is a malfunction of the turbine control system at the power unit. According to Tolkachev, Cuba must conduct a full diagnosis of all key power plants and infrastructure facilities to identify potential weaknesses.

Maryshev believes that diplomatic work is needed to find external sources of energy supply. For example, the Turkish floating power plant Belgin Sultan already supports the Cuban energy system. It is also worth considering the small nuclear power units that Russia has as a backup power source. They are a product of small installed capacity and ready—made factory assembly that can be delivered by sea or air, the expert concluded.

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The war in the Middle East is forcing Washington to ease pressure on the island

Russia has already supported Cuba in a critical situation, becoming the first country to supply 100,000 tons of crude oil to the island after the tightening of the blockade by the United States. On March 30, the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin arrived off the coast of Cuba. According to the Ministry of Energy, Russia plans to send a second vessel to the island. On February 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin received in the Kremlin a Cuban delegation led by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. The development of bilateral relations was discussed at the meeting. Another Cuban delegation may arrive in Russia in June to discuss energy issues, among other things.

"An invitation has been sent to Cuba for the SPIEF," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia. — No response has been received yet.

The Cuban side participated in SPIEF 2025. The delegation was headed by Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of the Republic. At that time, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev met with representatives of Cuba. The parties discussed, in particular, the prospects for the modernization of Cuba's energy system, the construction of a new power unit and the repair of existing modules.