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The last few hours have been critical in the national electricity landscape in Cuba following a breakdown at Energas, which, after further complications, finally took the Boca de Jaruco plant offline and increased nationwide blackouts.
"The unexpected shutdown of the Energas Boca de Jaruco unit triggers automatic disconnections in several circuits across the country. The causes of the shutdown are under investigation," wrote journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso.
Two hours after that publication, which also sparked outrage among Cubans, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) explained what had happened.
“A malfunction in one of the output lines of Energas and the shutdown of the other two took the Boca de Jaruco plant offline, resulting in an increase in the impact,” a note published on the MINEM Facebook profile specifies.
"Four gas turbines are already in service; the fifth will gradually enter operation, followed by the steam turbine," they added.
As of the closing of this report, there is no additional institutional information.
What there are, however, are hundreds of comments criticizing yet another issue with the Cuban electrical system.
"It's just good news after good news. What a tragedy this town has had to endure!", stated the comedian Luis Silva on Facebook.
"This whole issue with ETECSA is just another way to keep the people entertained so they forget that there are more important things than the damn internet," noted a commentator in response to ETECSA's recent and unpopular measure to limit internet consumption in Cuban pesos.
"Be aware that they are manipulating and psychologically using them to entertain everyone and distract them from the real issues," he added, implying that the ongoing blackouts are an even bigger problem.
In several areas of the capital, which is less accustomed to the ongoing nighttime blackouts that the provinces have been experiencing for years, protests with pots and pans were reported in some neighborhoods.
The sounds of the pots were felt, for instance, at Línea and 12, in El Vedado, Havana, according to some reports on social media.
Reports of protests with pots and pans were also seen in Alamar, in the municipality of Habana del Este.
It remains to be seen how much the power outages in Cuba have surged in the last few hours. According to the report released yesterday by the Electric Union (UNE), the forecast was 1,530 MW, a figure that is likely to be much higher following the recent announcement.
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