Havana: Cuba Blackout left the entire island without electricity on Tuesday after a failure in the national power grid triggered the country’s third nationwide outage in just two weeks.

Officials said a malfunction at a power generation unit in the eastern province of Holguín caused a sudden frequency change that shut down Cuba’s National Electric System (SEN).

The Ministry of Energy and Mines and the state-owned Electric Union said emergency restoration protocols were immediately activated. Engineers began creating isolated “micro-grids” to restore electricity to essential services, including hospitals and food processing facilities.

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By Tuesday afternoon, electricity had returned to parts of Havana, with authorities saying about 4% of the capital had regained power. Officials also reported partial restoration in Guantánamo, Cienfuegos and the historic centre of Matanzas.

The latest outage follows two nationwide blackouts last week and several major power failures earlier this year, highlighting the worsening condition of Cuba’s electricity network.

The country’s energy crisis has intensified since January after US sanctions and restrictions on oil supplies further reduced fuel imports. Cuba currently produces only about 40% of the fuel it needs, while authorities have yet to secure a long-term solution for imports.

The prolonged fuel shortage has disrupted public transport, forced the cancellation of thousands of surgeries and reduced working hours across the country. Flight cancellations and interruptions to water supplies, internet services and mobile communications have also affected millions of residents.

Many Cubans say nationwide power cuts have become part of daily life.

“These blackouts are normal in Cuba now. If something else happened, it would be strange,” said Havana shop worker Roberto Liana.

Others have turned to solar panels, portable batteries and electric motorcycles to cope with frequent outages as the country’s energy crisis continues.