Cuba has suffered a total blackout that left its 10 million inhabitants without electricity, beginning on the morning of September 10. The blackout is still ongoing, while essential services such as hospitals and water pumps are running on backup power. The failure was provoked by a false alarm in the power plant in Matanzas, the country’s biggest, which forced the system to cut off electricity.
The National Electric Union (UNE) declared that it has a plan to restore energy, although the timeline remains unclear.Experiencing a blackout is nothing new for Cubans. Indeed, this is the fourth total energy interruption since October 2024, some having lasted several days. In addition, power interruptions are a daily recurrence. And the frequency of these interruptions has sparked rare protests against the government.
The causes are multiple: the country’s decades-old, oil-powered energy plants are in a state of decay, with long-overdue maintenance. US sanctions aimed at pushing political change prevent Cuba from securing enough foreign currency to buy oil or afford repairs, while oil exports from Mexico, Russia, and Venezuela have decreased over the past year. Moreover, two Turkish power ships that were supplying electricity also left the island due to unpaid bills.
But while Cuba’s situation is unique for the frequency, power outages happen in many parts of the world and have caused significant damage and distress to entire nations. In this gallery, we revisit some of the most significant blackouts in history. Click through to learn more.