CTE Ernesto Guevara
Cuba's largest thermoelectric station; Unit 1 offline during the April 2026 peak blackout crisis.
Last refreshed: 15 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How many of Cuba's large power plants were down simultaneously on 15 April 2026?
Timeline for CTE Ernesto Guevara
UNE forecasts 1,732 MW blackout at evening peak
Cuba Dispatch- Why is Cuba's Ernesto Guevara power plant offline?
- Unit 1 was out of service on 15 April 2026 due to maintenance failures compounded by fuel shortages from US sanctions. The plant runs on heavy fuel oil disrupted by EO 14380.Source: UNE daily bulletin
- How much power does CTE Ernesto Guevara generate?
- The station has an installed capacity of approximately 500 MW across multiple units running on heavy fuel oil.
- How bad are Cuba's power outages in April 2026?
- The UNE grid forecast a 1,732 MW deficit at the 20:30 peak on 15 April 2026, with multiple large plants simultaneously offline including Ernesto Guevara, Antonio Maceo, and Felton.Source: UNE
Background
CTE Ernesto Guevara is one of Cuba's largest thermoelectric power stations, located in Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque province. On 15 April 2026 its Unit 1 was simultaneously out of service alongside units at CTE Antonio Maceo and CTE Felton, contributing to a national generation deficit of 1,732 MW against demand of 3,000 MW.
The plant runs on heavy fuel oil and has an installed capacity of approximately 500 MW across multiple generating units. Like most of Cuba's thermoelectric fleet, it was built with Soviet-era technology and has suffered from chronic underinvestment, spare-parts shortages, and delayed maintenance. The fuel supply disruptions caused by US Executive Order 14380 and the partial block on Venezuelan crude have compounded existing maintenance deficits, making multi-unit simultaneous failures increasingly common through 2025-2026.
CTE Ernesto Guevara's repeated outages are a reliable indicator of the severity of Cuba's energy crisis. When this station goes offline alongside the other large thermal plants, the national grid cannot meet peak evening demand, triggering the rolling blackouts that have become a daily feature of Cuban life. Its operational status is tracked in UNE's daily bulletins and closely watched by Cuban diaspora monitoring services.