However, the current electricity supply still only meets less than half of the demand, showing that the energy crisis in the Caribbean island nation is still very fragile.
Cuban officials said engineers have completed repairs to the Antonio Guiteras power plant, which caused a widespread power outage that left millions of people without power last week.
According to Mr. Felix Estrada Rodríguez - Director of National Load Management of the Cuban National Electricity Union (UNE), the plant is expected to restart in the afternoon of March 7 (local time) after the technical team overcomes serious damage in the boiler system.
The incident occurred on March 4 when the plant's boiler leaked, forcing the unit to stop operating suddenly. This incident led to the unstable national power system and caused the majority of western Cuba to lose power.
The incident at the Guiteras plant has caused millions of people in many localities, including the capital Havana, to live in prolonged power outages.
According to the Cuban Electricity Union, by the morning of March 7, the total power generation capacity nationwide only reached about 1,000 megawatts, while the actual demand was much higher.
Engineers said that factory repairs are a complex process because the damaged area is located in a closed space with very high temperatures. "This is an extremely hot and cramped area, so all operations must be carried out very carefully," Mr. Estrada Rodríguez said.
This is the second major power outage in 3 months in western Cuba, reflecting the fragility of the already old and fuel-deficient power system.
Cuba has long been heavily dependent on oil imports, especially from Venezuela. However, this supply has recently been disrupted after the US launched a military campaign in the South American country and arrested the country's leader, causing important oil trips to be stopped.
Not long after that, US President Donald Trump warned Washington that it could impose tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba, a move that is said to make it even more difficult for Havana to find alternative fuel sources.
Experts believe that the combination of degraded electricity infrastructure, fuel shortages and difficult economic conditions makes the Cuban power system increasingly prone to crisis.
The Antonio Guiteras plant - Cuba's largest and most important thermal power unit - whenever there is a problem, it often leads to chain reactions throughout the national power system.
Restarting the power plant on March 7 is expected to help restore power to many areas, but Cuban authorities admit that the system stabilization process may take longer, as the gap between electricity supply and demand in the island nation is still very large.
