The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant began the cooling process of its boiler on Monday, after unexpectedly going offline at 3:00 a.m., when the unit was generating 170 megawatts (MW).
Román Pérez Castañeda, general director of the industry, informed the Cuban News Agency that the malfunction was a puncture in the boiler.
According to the explanation provided, the cooling process will last between 30 and 36 hours, a necessary step for specialists to access the interior of the unit and assess the exact extent of the damage.
For his part, Félix Estrada Rodríguez, director of the National Cargo Office of the Electric Union, was categorical about the impact of the outage: "The shutdown of Guiteras is one of the most important machines in the system. It will be offline for at least 72 hours."
In statements to the television, the executive explained the procedure that will be followed: "Now we need to wait for the boiler to cool down so that we can access the interior of this thermal unit and then determine the location of the failure, the area that requires urgent repair before we can restart the boiler and the machine's startup process."
The forecast for the reintegration of Guiteras into the National Electro-Energetic System (SEN) will be announced on Tuesday, once the malfunction is located.
Estrada Rodríguez stated that maintenance brigades and material resources are ready to act as soon as the cooling process is completed: "Everything is prepared, just like the personnel from the power plant maintenance company and the resources needed to repair a boiler malfunction at this moment."
The unexpected outage worsens an already severe electrical crisis. By 7:00 AM this Monday, the impact across the country exceeded 1,300 MW.
For the peak at night, the Electric Union forecasted an availability of only 1,205 MW against a maximum demand of 3,020 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,815 MW and an impact of 1,845 MW, higher than the 1,740 MW recorded on Easter Sunday.
As partially positive elements, the reintroduction of unit 6 of the 10 de Octubre thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas is anticipated, which would contribute between 85 and 90 MW during peak nighttime hours, along with unit 5 of Renté, which would come online in the late afternoon to evening with an additional 45 to 50 MW.
La Guiteras, the largest power plant in Cuba, has a troubling history of recurring failures that has intensified in 2026.
This year alone, before the malfunction on Monday, the plant had disconnected from the National Electric System (SEN) on at least four occasions: on February 2 due to a defect in the "Nodriza" of the boiler; on February 9 due to a crack in the boiler structure; on March 4 due to a leak that caused a widespread blackout from Camagüey to Pinar del Río; and on March 16, when a new leak triggered the complete collapse of the SEN for 29 hours and 29 minutes, leaving 68% of the Island without electricity.
The underlying causes are structural: the plant was inaugurated in 1988 in Matanzas, it has been in operation for over 36 years without having received major maintenance since its opening, and it suffers from a chronic shortage of spare parts and accumulated deterioration.
With a nominal capacity of between 250 and 330 MW, it accounts for between 20% and 25% of the country's thermal generation, so any unexpected outage triggers the national deficit and prolongs blackouts throughout the territory. Repairs have been temporary, and the plant fails shortly after returning to the system.
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