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The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant has once again disconnected from the National Electric System (SEN) on Friday night, as reported by journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso on .
The cause was, once again, a leak in the boiler, the same failure that had already taken the plant offline on May 14.
The Electric Union (UNE) also shared the news on Facebook, where it mentioned "a leak in the economizer."
The most revealing aspect of the episode is its timeline: the Guiteras had been reconnected to the grid just on Thursday at 7:48 AM, after being out of service for four days due to a leak in the economizer. It lasted less than 36 hours online before failing again.
The reactions of Cubans on social media did not reflect surprise, but rather resignation and sarcasm in the face of a chronic problem.
Many commented that the new ruling was completely predictable. "What's strange is that it didn't come out," wrote one user, while another summarized the general sentiment with irony: "God, what a surprise."
Other internet users even questioned the usefulness of announcing the plant's reactivation, given that the relief for the population was virtually imperceptible. "But had it even started?" asked one commenter. Another added, "Look at this; we didn't even see any improvement. It's a Turkish soap opera; who knows when this story will end."
The prevailing feeling is that official reports about the arrivals and departures of units no longer generate expectations among a population accustomed to living with blackouts.
Several users described the Guiteras as an exhausted facility after decades of exploitation and partial repairs. "It can't take any more," wrote one. Another was more graphic, stating that "that Guiteras is a sieve," referring to the frequency with which leaks appear in various components of the plant.
Popular humor was also present. Some compared the instability of the thermoelectric plant to a permanent traveler. "The Guiteras has become a street dweller, it lives outside," commented a Cuban.
Another joked that "they probably can't fit another stamp in their passport with all the comings and goings," while several compared their constant disconnections to transportation: "The units come in and out every day, more often than the Santiago-Havana train."
Some pointed out that the shutdown of the plant hardly changes daily reality because blackouts continue regardless of whether the unit is connected. "Don't worry, with Guiteras or without Guiteras, the situation is the same," commented an internet user.
The comments summarize the weariness of a population witnessing the country's largest thermoelectric plant fail once again just hours after being presented as a recovery for the system.
With this new outage, the plant has now experienced between 10 and 11 shutdowns this year, reinforcing a pattern of breakdowns that the Cuban regime has been unable to resolve structurally.
In May alone, the thermoelectric plant went offline at least four times: on the 5th due to a boiler malfunction, on the 14th due to a leak in the boiler, on the 24th due to a porous spot in the economizer, and now again due to a leak in the boiler.
La Guiteras, inaugurated in 1988 and located in Matanzas, is the largest unit block in the Cuban electrical system, with a nominal capacity of 250-270 MW, accounting for approximately 20% to 25% of the national thermal generation. Each outage immediately worsens the country's electrical deficit.
The plant has gone over 16 years without comprehensive capital maintenance - the last one was in 2010. The management themselves acknowledge that 180 days of downtime would be needed for that review, something that the authorities say they cannot afford due to the facility's significance in the system.
The executive Román Pérez Castañeda denied that the failures are the result of poorly executed repairs, arguing that the issues arise in different locations each time.
The regime, for its part, attributes the crisis to the U.S. embargo and points out that containers with parts for the Guiteras were held up in France by the shipping company CMA CGM, which was reluctant to deliver them due to potential U.S. sanctions.
The context in which this new breakdown occurs is devastating for the Cuban population. On Friday, the electrical system was operating at a capacity of only 1,400 MW against a demand of 2,770 MW, with an anticipated deficit of 1,800 MW during peak hours.
On Friday, there was a service disruption lasting 24 hours, with a peak impact of 1,890 MW at 10 PM, which was higher than anticipated.
Power outages in Havana last 20-22 hours daily; in provinces like Holguín and Granma, the cuts exceed 24 hours. Nearly three million Cubans suffer from water shortages as a direct consequence of the blackouts.
The announcement of Thursday's reconnection led to massive mockery on social media, with Cubans betting on how many days the plant would remain online. The answer came in less than a day and a half: the Guiteras went dark again, along with the hope for a reprieve for millions of people who have been living in darkness for months.
Paradoxically, the Guiteras was recently awarded the distinction of "National Vanguard," a recognition that sparked widespread outrage among Cubans and starkly highlights the gap between the official narrative and the reality faced by the Island.
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