The blackouts that the vast majority of Cuban households are experiencing daily not only affect family work and routines, but also have disastrous consequences on the infrastructure of the national electrical energy system (SEN).
The explosion this Saturday of three electrical transformers is an example of the effects of the ruler's blackout policy. Miguel Diaz-Canel to face the serious energy crisis that threatens to put an end to its leadership of the so-called “continuity”.
Videos recorded by citizens from various locations in Cuba were sent to the journalist Mario J. Pentón to denounce the critical situation of the SEN, which threatens to collapse at the national level at any time, as has already happened on several occasions in 2022.
“An electrical transformer explodes in Güira de Melena, Artemisa province, in Cuba. It took 15 minutes for the firefighters to arrive, according to the neighbors' testimony. The events occurred on 81 / 94 and 96 avenues. PS: There is no audio for fear of reprisals from the political police for informing the independent press,” Pentón indicated in his social networks.
This incident caused a fire on the electric pole located a few meters from homes in the town and forced the closest residents to take their belongings and belongings out to the street for fear that the flames would spread to their homes.
“From Güines, Mayabeque, we receive another report of a fire in a transformer… The Cuban electrical network is very old and has little maintenance,” Pentón said in another publication with a new video of transformer and electric pole on fire. The images show the arrival of firefighters to the area.
In the publication, a Cuban Internet user told the journalist that a similar event had occurred in her neighborhood. “Here in Camagüey almost the same thing happened. Now we are without power because the transformer on my block exploded,” he said.
The lack of maintenance and replacement parts for power lines is one of the main causes of this type of incidents that affect neighbors and their properties, while at the same time put people's lives at risk.
In mid-January, social media users reported the fall of a transformer from an electrical pole in the middle of a street in the Jagüey Grande municipality, in Matanzas, and its subsequent and dangerous explosion.
Not only do the old transformers of the urban power lines break down, but also those of the SEN infrastructure, such as an electrical substation in Pinar del Río that caught fire in June 2023.
According to the Cuban Electrical Union (UNE), the problem was due to a breakdown in a current transformer at the 110 kV substation.
"The cause is a short circuit in a current transformer that caused a fire. Firefighters are currently putting out the fire, once it is put out they will work on solving the fault and restoring service to the affected areas," he said. the UNE in a statement.
Accidents like the one that occurred in April 2020 are frequent throughout Cuba. In the middle of that month, a strong explosion at the Diezmero Substation (110 kV) caused a blackout that affected several Havana municipalities.
“On the night of April 15 at around 7:32 pm, a breakdown occurred at the Diezmero 110 kv Substation, which consisted of damage to a current transformer (CT) causing a strong explosion and the beginning of a fire in the place,” indicated a note from the Havana Electric Company.
The event triggered what the Electric Company described as “a series of shots associated with the breakdown itself,” and an “overload due to high transfers in the capital's electrical grid.”
The chain of misfortunes caused “affectation to the electrical service (74 MW) in areas of San Miguel del Padrón, Cotorro, Arroyo Naranjo, Diez de Octubre, Cerro and Reparto Debeche belonging to Guanabacoa.”
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