Cuba had restored power to nearly half of the capital Havana by Sunday (March 22) afternoon, officials said, less than 24 hours after the national grid collapsed for the second time in a week amid a U.S. oil blockade that has dealt a major blow to the island's already ailing energy infrastructure.

The grid failed Saturday (March 21) evening at 6:32 p.m. (2232 GMT) after a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Cuba's Camaguey province, went offline, grid operator UNE said, causing a cascade effect that knocked out power to the nation's approximately 10 million people.

Nearly 500,000 homes and businesses in Havana - approximately 55% of the total - as well as 43 hospitals, were back online by Sunday afternoon, UNE said. The grid operator was also preparing to fire the country's largest oil-fired power plant and expected it to be operating by day's end, sharply boosting generation.

Life carried on as normal across most of Havana despite the ongoing blackouts, which have become a regular part of the daily routine in the capital even when the national grid is operational.

Outlying provinces also reported a gradual restoration of power, though a dramatic shortage of diesel fuel means only a portion of the grid's capacity is available for generation, meaning many areas will continue to see lengthy blackouts despite restoration efforts, officials said.

Cuba's electrical grid has been teetering on the edge of collapse and unreliable for months, with hours, and sometimes day-long blackouts the norm, but two nationwide blackouts in the space of a week is exceptional.

U.S. President Donald Trump began taking measures to block oil from reaching the Caribbean island after Washington deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3. Venezuela had previously provided oil to its close ally on favorable terms. Since then, Trump has cut off Venezuelan exports to Cuba and threatened other countries with punitive tariffs if they sell oil to the island.

Cuba has long blamed the U.S. trade embargo for economic failures including its obsolete power grid, while Washington has attributed the shortfalls to Cuba's Soviet-style command economy.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

HAVANA, CUBA (MARCH 22, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. CITY BUILDINGS

2. VEHICLES MOVING ON ROAD / STREET LIGHTS PARTIALLY ON

3. LIT STREET WITH CAPITOL BUILDING IN BACKGROUND

4. STREET LIGHTS WITH MOON IN BACKGROUND

5. FLICKERING STREET LAMP WITH ILLUMINATED BUILDING

6. STREET LAMP FLICKERING

7. BUILDING ILLUMINATED BY FLICKERING STREET LAMP

HAVANA, CUBA (MARCH 22, 2026) (CUBAN GOVERNMENT TV - Access all)

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HEAD OF THE NATIONAL DISPATCH OFFICE AT STATE-OWNED COMPANY, ELECTRICAL UNION (UNE), ENGINEER LISNER CRUZ, SAYING:

"At this moment, power has been restored from Pinar del Rio province to Santiago de Cuba. Throughout the day, unit one of the Havana Thermoelectric Plant, unit number four of the Cienfuegos Thermoelectric Plant, and the Guiteras Unit (Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant) have been reconnected. At this moment, all essential facilities are receiving service from the system."

HAVANA, CUBA (MARCH 22, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

9. CAR MOVING ALONG MALECON AVENUE

10. PEOPLE GATHERING AT MALECON SEAWALL

11. PEOPLE SITTING ON MALECON SEAWALL

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRIVATE SECTOR WORKER, MAIKEL PENA, 44, SAYING:

"The thermoelectric plants breaking down one after another, the lack of oil, the supposed blockade, or the blockade, I don't know, and in the end those who are suffering are the people, the people, the children, the mothers, the elderly, all suffering. Besides the fact that there's no food, there are thousands of resources that don't exist in this country. Now with these blackouts the little food people have spoils and you don't know what to do anymore. You don't know if you can buy food for a month or for a week or for a day because you never know when the electricity will go out. One minute everything is lit up and the next minute everything goes down."

13. LIT STREET / PEOPLE WALKING

14. ILLUMINATED GAS STATION

15. WAVES CRASHING