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The Antonio Guiteras Thermal Power Plant will need at least five additional days for repairs before it can reintegrate into the National Electroenergetic System (SEN), according to an update published on social media this Wednesday by the plant itself.
The official announcement revealed that the cause of the shutdown, which occurred on Monday, was a failed welding cord that damaged three additional pipes.
"As a result of the inspection conducted last night, it has been determined that the unit's failure was caused by a faulty weld that damaged three adjacent pipes, resulting in a total of four affected pipes, all of which have already been replaced," the statement said.
Although the four damaged pipes have already been replaced, the repair is far from complete.
The plant reported that the number of welders has increased and that over the next five days they will work in four groups on more than 100 welding seams, which keeps the unit offline at least until June 22nd.
This is the 15th breakdown that Guiteras has suffered so far in 2026. The plant, located in Matanzas and inaugurated in 1988 with a nominal capacity of 250 MW, has not received comprehensive capital maintenance since 2010.
A complete repair would require about 180 days of downtime, something that the authorities consider unfeasible given the already existing generation deficit in the country.
The shutdown of the Guiteras worsens a power crisis that was already severe before this new failure. On Monday, the Electric Union projected a peak night-time impact of up to 2,085 MW. On Tuesday, the availability of the National Electric System was only 970 MW against a demand of 2,525 MW. In Matanzas, there have been reports of blackouts lasting up to 85 consecutive hours, while in Havana, the outages reach between 20 and 22 hours daily.
The news coincides with Father's Day, which intensified the outrage on social media.
Comments on Facebook combined dark humor with accumulated frustration. "Hahaha, it means we've been without electricity for 3 days and we have 5 more to go, hahaha," wrote one user. Another summed up the situation in a single phrase: "What patience Cubans have."
Several commentators made jokes about the recurring technical failures. "It has more laces than a shoe factory," remarked one.
Another remarked sarcastically, "In summary, they're in need of therapy." Someone else recalled the pattern of dates: "Happy Father's Day, remember that on Mother's Day, we had a blackout LATE NIGHT EARLY MORNING."
And there were those who predicted the next chapter: "They'll leave it until July 26. After that, it's time to cry."
The reorganization of power outages in Santiago de Cuba into nine blocks with only one or two hours of service per day illustrates just how significant the impact of the Guiteras going offline —which contributes 250 MW to the system— is on the entire country. Meanwhile, 106 distributed generation plants remain idle due to a lack of fuel, which amounts to an additional 890 MW unavailable.
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