Power is gradually being restored to western Cuba after another blackout.

The national electricity company (UNE) announced at midday that "all provinces" were "now connected to the national power grid." "Service will be restored gradually depending on production capacity," it stated on X.

Approximately 40% of the capital's 1,7 million residents have their power restored, the Havana Electric Company (EELH) said, a few hours after reporting an outage affecting five provinces in western Cuba.

"A disconnection of the national electrical system occurred at dawn today (Wednesday) in the western part, affecting several provinces, from Cienfuegos to Pinar del Rio," she explained.

Authorities said the outage occurred at 05:00 a.m. Wednesday (09:00 GMT) on a transmission line between two power plants, causing an "overload" on part of the network and its disconnection.

A recurring phenomenon

Cuba has suffered from massive power outages for the past two years. This country of 9,7 million inhabitants has experienced five widespread blackouts since the end of 2024, some lasting several days. The population also endures very long daily power cuts, sometimes exceeding 20 hours at a time.

The employees of the national electricity company, "who have no respite in the face of the daily complexities imposed on us by the blockade and the recovery after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, are already in the process of solving the problem," assured President Miguel Diaz-Canel on X, alluding to the American trade and financial embargo, in force since 1962 and reinforced by Donald Trump.

Hurricane Melissa struck the east of the island on October 29 with winds of 195 km/h, causing no casualties but leaving behind considerable material damage.

The government claims that US sanctions are preventing it from repairing its power grid. However, economists point to the chronic lack of government investment in this sector.

The eight thermoelectric power plants, almost all of which were inaugurated in the 1980s and 1990s, regularly break down or have to be shut down for extended periods of maintenance. Frequent fuel shortages also contribute to the frequent outages.

For the past five years, Cuba has been experiencing a deep economic crisis, with a severe shortage of foreign currency contributing to the erosion of many basic services. In addition to power outages, Cubans face high inflation and shortages of all kinds.

"When will this end?"

"We are both retired. You can imagine how difficult this situation is for us," Estela Morales, 78, told AFP as she went to the market with her husband in downtown Havana.

"We don't know when there will be water, when there will be electricity, when we will be able to buy anything. It's very difficult and we don't know when it will end, or even if we will see the end of all this," she complains.

Melissa Guzman, a 19-year-old accountant and mother of a baby, works in a state-owned store. "It's very unpleasant. We leave for work without electricity, and I'm sure that when I get home from work, I won't have any electricity," she laments.

The recent installation of around thirty photovoltaic parks, with the help of China, has not yet succeeded in relieving the network and reducing power outages.

On Monday evening, during rush hour, 59% of Cubans were without power due to load shedding.

This latest power outage comes at a time when Cuba has been experiencing a chikungunya epidemic since July. Around thirty people, including 21 children and teenagers, have died from dengue and chikungunya, two viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.

The chikungunya epidemic is now out of control, largely due to the piles of garbage accumulated in the streets and stagnant water stored in cisterns on homes to compensate for the lack of running water, which has affected up to three million Cubans this year.