Cuba says electricity plant successfully repaired after large blackout

An escalating US pressure campaign, including an oil blockade, has strained the Caribbean country’s ageing energy infrastructure.Published On 7 Mar 2026Cuban authorities say that repair teams have successfully fixed a large thermoelectric plant that shut down earlier this week, causing blackouts across an island that is straining under United States-imposed restrictions.Felix Estrada Rodriguez, a top engineer at Cuba’s Electric Union, told the state-owned media outlet Canal Caribe that the Antonio Guiteras plant is expected to resume operations by Saturday afternoon.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump says regime change in Cuba is ‘question of time’ after Iranlist 2 of 3Amid Iran war, Trump administration eyes military efforts in Latin Americalist 3 of 3Cuba announces fifth death after shootout with Florida-tagged speedboatend of listHe also explained that the pace of repairs was the result of difficult working conditions and safety concerns.“It is a confined space with a high temperature,” Estrada Rodriguez said.A broken boiler had caused the plant to shut down on Wednesday, prompting power outages that left millions of people without power in the country’s western areas.Widespread outages have increased in recent months as the US takes measures to further isolate Cuba and push the country’s energy system to its breaking point.Following the abduction and imprisonment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump moved to cut the flow of oil and money between Cuba and the South American nation.Then, on January 29, he issued an executive order threatening economic action against any country that supplied Cuba with oil.The island’s ageing energy grid continues to rely largely on fossil fuels, though it has taken steps to increase its supply of alternative power sources.China, for instance, has been helping Cuba develop its solar energy supplies, with thousands of panels being exported to the island.