The leader Miguel Díaz-Canel toured two energy sector facilities in Havana this Friday, the Latino transformer factory and a battery storage system in Cotorro, in a visit highlighted by the Presidency of Cuba as part of the strategic program to restore the National Electroenergy System (SEN).
At the Transformadores Latino factory, located in the Boyeros municipality, the leader spoke with executives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines and with the 143 workers of the plant, 56 of whom are young people.
The facility, founded in 1987, aims to produce 10,000 transformers by 2026, including 8,000 new ones in Havana and 2,000 refurbished units in Villa Clara and Manzanillo, the source stated.
"This year we produced 8,000 transformers; each one costs between 1,800 and 1,900 dollars. It costs us to produce them here, and the importation is around 3,000 dollars. So for each transformer we make, we are saving about 1,500 or 1,200 dollars," explained an executive from the factory.
In 2025, the recovery of transformers at that plant saved the country nearly 20 million dollars, according to the same executive.
Subsequently, the president visited the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at the Cotorro substation, built with technology and expertise from China, which is 93% complete.
Its commissioning is scheduled for the second half of June. Three other similar parks are progressing in La Cujá (Havana), Cueto (Holguín), and Bayamo-Granma, each with a capacity of 50 megawatts.
A technical executive stated that the four systems will collectively provide 200 megawatts that "will allow for complete frequency regulation of the SEN in conjunction with the entire solar photovoltaic park program of 2,000 megawatts."
The official tour is taking place while the country is experiencing one of its worst energy crises. The electricity deficit in Cuba continues to worsen and a user from Mayabeque reported, in one of the comments on the post, that she had been without power for 34 consecutive hours in her circuit.
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant went offline on May 5 due to its eighth breakdown of the year, and the power outages surged following this shutdown.
This is compounded by the fuel crisis. Díaz-Canel himself admitted on May 2nd to international solidarity delegates that Russian oil was running out with no date for new supplies.
"Oil is running out these days, and we do not know when fuel will enter Cuba again," he emphasized.
The citizens' reaction on social media was one of open skepticism. "The circus on tour in the capital, for that there is fuel," wrote one user. Another summed up the situation with irony: "It's like going to inspect the pan without having any fish."
Yoanka Rodriguez was more direct: "And that's why in my circuit 3665 of Mayabeque, I've already experienced 34 hours of blackout. It's embarrassing."
This pattern of presidential visits to energy facilities during crises is not new. Díaz-Canel already visited Guiteras in September 2025, while the country remained in darkness.
I had previously visited thermoelectric plants in Cienfuegos in August 2025, always with the same outcome, promises of recovery without any structural solutions in sight.
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