Cuba gets some electricity back after major power outage left millions in the dark

HAVANA (AP) — Some electricity was restored in Cuba, the government said Saturday, after the island nation's worst blackout in at least two years left millions without electricity for two days.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said the country had 500 megawatts in its electrical grid early Saturday, compared to the 3 gigawatts that are normally generated. He posted on the social media platform X that “several substations in the west now have electricity.”

De la O Levy also said two thermoelectric power plants are back and two more will resume their operations “in the next few hours.”

About half of Cuba was plunged into darkness on Thursday evening, followed by the entire island on Friday morning after the plant failed.

Havana's electricity company said in a statement earlier Saturday that a part of its western system was disconnected “after the exit of one of the plants that was delivering service.” That issue has left some parts of the city in the dark once again, with the total megawatts dropping from 500 to 370.

The streets of Cuba's capital, where 2 million people live, were quiet on Saturday, with few cars driving by after a night that was lit by candles and lamps. The impact of the blackout goes beyond lighting, as services like water supply also depend on electricity to run pumps.

The blackout was considered to be Cuba's worst in two years, after a Category 3 hurricane damaged power installations and it took days for the government to fix them. This year, some homes have spent up to eight hours a day without electricity.

Besides the Antonio Guiteras plant, whose failure on Friday affected the entire national system, Cuba has several others and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they remained functional.

There is no official estimate for when the blackout will end. Even in a country that is used to outages as part of a deepening economic crisis, Friday’s collapse was massive.

The Cuban government has announced emergency measures to slash electricity demand, including suspending school and university classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces and canceling nonessential services. Officials said that 1.64 gigawatts went offline during peak hours, about half the total demand at the time.

Local authorities said the outage, which started on a small scale Thursday, stemmed from increased demand from small- and medium-sized companies and residential air conditioners. Later, the blackout got worse due to breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants that haven’t been properly maintained and the lack of fuel to operate some facilities.

Changes to electricity rates for small- and medium-sized companies, which have proliferated since they were first authorized by the communist government in 2021, are also being considered.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Residents walk down a street using a phone flashlight during a power outage following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A resident sits while passing time during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents prepare a soup over an open fire during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents eat outside their homes to avoid the indoor heat during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents endure the heat during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A resident prepares a soup over an open fire during a massive blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A cook looks in on a resident during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents stand outside their homes to avoid the heat indoors during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents pass the time during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman prepares to catch a tossed frisbee during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)