Cuba is left without radio or television following a general blackout due to the shutdown of the Guiteras

A failure at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest power generation unit in Cuba, caused a nationwide blackout on Wednesday, leaving a large part of the country without electricity and also interrupting radio and television signals.

The official journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso reported that, due to a technical incident, the radio and television signal was interrupted due to problems associated with the electrical system failure.

According to the Electric Union (UNE), the unexpected shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, which occurred at 12:41 p.m. due to a leak in the boiler, caused a disconnection of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) from Camagüey to Pinar del Río.

Subsequently, the General Director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, specified that the service was interrupted from the western region of Las Tunas to Pinar del Río, while from the eastern part of Las Tunas to Guantánamo, the system remains connected.

The authorities indicated that the protocols for the gradual restoration of the SEN are already activated, although they did not provide a precise estimate on the time required for the full recovery of the service.

The incident occurs in a context of deep fragility of the Cuban electrical system. Before the collapse, the situation was already critical: at 6:00 a.m., the availability of the National Electric System was only 1,180 megawatts (MW), compared to a demand of 2,250 MW, with 1,050 MW impacted.

The National Electric System has been experiencing frequent breakdowns in its thermoelectric plants for years, along with fuel shortages and extended maintenance, leading to daily blackouts in many parts of the country.