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The Cuban electrical system is once again faltering. The unexpected shutdown of Unit 6 at the Renté Thermoelectric Power Plant in Santiago de Cuba, confirmed by the Electricity Union (UNE) at 6:46 PM, adds to a series of recent outages that have left the country plagued by prolonged blackouts and without clear signs of relief.
The UNE briefly reported that the unit went out of service due to a leak in the water feed pump, a technical explanation that, for most Cubans, translates into more hours without electricity, more nights without rest, and more difficulties in cooking, preserving food, or coping with the heat.
This new failure does not occur in a vacuum. In recent days, other key units have also gone offline, worsening an already critical situation.
On Sunday, Unit 5 of the Diez de Octubre thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas, Camagüey, went offline after a leak was detected in the ECO, necessitating an immediate shutdown under emergency protocol. Just a week earlier, a fire had taken Unit 6 of the same plant out of service.
This Monday, the crisis escalated again when the Unit 6 of the CTE Diez de Octubre went offline once more due to the failure of the feedwater pump, exacerbating a shortfall that has consistently exceeded 1,800 to 1,900 megawatts daily.
In practice, this means that more than half of the country is left in the dark during peak hours, a situation that has been ongoing for weeks and has made blackouts the norm rather than the exception. Central and eastern provinces are experiencing outages of up to 20 hours daily, while the National Electric System operates in what the authorities themselves have described as a "permanent technical red."
The succession of failures at Renté, Nuevitas, and other thermoelectric plants like Felton and Mariel once again highlights the structural deterioration of Cuba's thermoelectric grid, characterized by outdated facilities, lack of maintenance, fuel shortages, and repairs that cannot be sustained over time.
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