The Cuban electrical system experienced another shock on Friday, December 26, with the sudden shutdown of another key generation unit, confirming that the energy emergency is not an isolated incident, but a structural collapse that keeps the country subjected to widespread daily blackouts.
At 9:58 am, the Electric Union (UNE) reported on its page on Facebook that unit 6 of the Máximo Gómez thermal power plant (CTE) in Mariel has gone offline.
The cause of the failure, according to the report, is being "investigated."
The announcement came just minutes after the company itself reported at 9:03 AM that the unit had succeeded in syncing with the system, which reflects the operational fragility of the plants and the ongoing instability of the National Electric System (SEN).
The citizens' reactions were immediate.
"It didn't last an hour," affirmed a model.
"55 minutes, that must be a record," specified a computer scientist.
"Christmas was excellent... and the New Year promises to be great!" a Cuban émigré remarked sarcastically.
Some internet users questioned the amount of time authorities spend "investigating" each malfunction, only for the same issues to reoccur days later.
"They are going to need to create a technical research department, like detectives, because they waste a lot of time investigating, and then the 'crime' happens again," noted a user.
The Mariel incident did not happen in isolation.
During the early hours of this Friday, the UNE announced the operational status of two units of the CTE Diez de Octubre: unit 6 at 12:35 am and unit 5 at 5:14 am.
Just the day before, on Thursday morning, the company reported the shutdown of unit 3 at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant in Cienfuegos due to a 6 kV electrical fault.
Hours earlier, it had been reported that block 8 of the Máximo Gómez power plant was disconnected due to a leak in the economizer.
This sequence of constant ins and outs paints a picture of extreme precariousness.
The SEN operates as a system that barely sustains itself, where each unit that manages to join temporarily compensates for another that is almost immediately lost.
The result is a network incapable of ensuring stability, subjecting millions of people to prolonged outages that, in many areas of the country, last up to 20 hours a day.
Beyond the specific technical failures, the pattern reveals a deterioration that has accumulated over the years, characterized by a lack of sustained investment, the aging of infrastructure, and a planning approach that has failed to anticipate or mitigate the progressive collapse of the thermoelectric park.
Citizens are enduring this situation not as a temporary accident, but as the direct consequence of an administration that has allowed the plants to reach a critical point without any structural solutions in sight.
In this context, every official announcement stating that a unit is "entering" or "leaving" the system has become a reminder of the country's energy fragility, as homes, hospitals, businesses, and production centers strive to survive amid power outages that have now become part of daily routine.
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