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The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant is preparing a controlled shutdown of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) this Wednesday after experiencing a water loss in the boiler, as reported by the official journalist José Miguel Solís on social media.
Specialists connected to the plant agree that a new malfunction in the economizer is a likely cause.
Engineer Jorge González Chávez, the production director, explained to journalist Solís that "everything seems to indicate a new failure in the feeder, which received a replacement of more than a hundred joints."
He specified that the consulted specialists are debating the strategy to follow in light of the fifth failure of the economizer, which has been eroded after nearly 40 years of operation.
The Electric Union, on its Facebook profile, later reported that at 5:48 PM: "The Antonio Guiteras CTE Unit is offline."
The outage occurred just two days after the Guiteras returned to the national electrical system on Monday, June 22 at 8:54 in the morning, following a repair that involved replacing more than 100 faulty welding cords.
With this new interruption, the thermoelectric plant has accumulated 16 system outages so far in 2026.
At the time of the breakdown, the plant was steadily supplying 250 MW to the SEN.
The breakdown pattern in June reveals the accumulated deterioration: the plant was taken offline on June 15 due to a leak in the boiler, and days later, director Román Pérez Castañeda explained that "a weld seam failed and damaged three additional tubes," leaving a total of four affected tubes.
This repair, which kept the unit out of service for at least five days, was completed on Monday. Less than 48 hours later, the plant has failed again.
The impact on the electric system is immediate. The Electric Union (UNE) forecasted that for the peak hour this Wednesday, there would be an availability of only 1,175 MW against a demand of 3,200 MW, resulting in a deficit of 2,025 MW and an estimated impact of 2,055 MW.
On Tuesday, the peak impact reached 2,037 MW at 8:30 PM. Additionally, 106 distributed generation plants remain out of service due to a lack of fuel, equivalent to an additional 890 MW not being generated.
CTE Máximo Gómez (unit 8) also went offline this Wednesday, further worsening the national energy situation.
The root of the problem at Guiteras is structural. The boiler has accumulated over 38 years of operation and the plant has not received major maintenance since 2010.
Only between January and May 29, 2026, it accumulated 293 hours out of service solely due to defects in the economizer.
Pérez Castañeda publicly acknowledged that at least 180 days of downtime are needed for a comprehensive review, but admitted that "the country's situation does not allow for it yet."
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, promised that capital maintenance by the end of 2025, postponed it in December citing a "transitional issue," and announced it again in April 2026 without setting a specific date.
Meanwhile, Cuba's largest thermal power plant continues to operate at its limits, with partial repairs that do not address the underlying deterioration, leaving millions of Cubans to suffer the consequences in the form of blackouts that have lasted up to 85 consecutive hours in provinces like Matanzas.
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