Cuba's national grid fails, leaving millions without power

Cuba's national electrical grid has collapsed, the country's Energy and Mines ministry said, after a substation failed.

Blackouts spread across a large swath of western Cuba, including the capital, Havana on Friday.

"At around 8:15 p.m. tonight, a breakdown ... caused the significant loss of power in western Cuba and with it the fall of the national electricity system," the Ministry of Energy and Mines posted on social media.

The lights were out across all of Havana's waterfront skyline, according to Reuters news agency, with only a scattered few tourist hotels operating on fuel-fired generators.

Cuban human rights activist Elsa Morejon posted pictures to X of the largely dark capital from her balcony, saying "Havana went dark. massive blackout.

Reports on social media from outlying provinces both east and west of the capital suggested much of the country of 10 million people was without power.

Thursday already saw the country's electricity services interupted for much of the day. The reasons given were plant failures and a lack of fuel, the Cuba Electricity Union said in a statement.

Cuba saw a string of nationwide blackouts late in 2024 that plunged the country's antiquated power generation system into near-total disarray.

Hours-long rolling blackouts have been the norm for months.

Edited by: Sean Sinico