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The Unit 2 of the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna Thermoelectric Plant, located in Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque, went out of service this Thursday at 16:09 due to a leak in the economizer, according to a report by the Electric Union of Cuba.
The breakdown occurs just an hour and a half after Unit 4 of the CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in Cienfuegos disconnected from the National Electric System (SEN) due to a failure in the generator's voltage regulator at 2:48 PM.
Two plants in less than two hours. The pattern of cascading collapse that has defined the Cuban electricity crisis of 2026 is repeating itself on one of the most critical days for the system.
The economizer is a component of the boiler system in thermoelectric power plants; a pore—a small perforation or crack—can cause leaks of water or steam, necessitating the shutdown of the unit for repairs.
It is the same type of failure that has repeatedly affected the CTE Antonio Guiteras, the country's main plant, which recorded 293 hours out of service in 2026 due to issues with that component.
The CTE Ernesto Guevara has an installed capacity of 295 MW and operates on national crude oil, which represents an estimated daily savings of 400,000 dollars for Cuba.
The plant has a history of breakdowns this year: on March 21, all three units failed simultaneously; on April 8, Unit 1 went offline due to a failure in the turbine control system; and just on July 7, that same unit was brought online to help restore the national electrical connection after the seventh total blackout of the SEN in 18 months.
The day's breakdown includes units 5, 6, and 8 from the Máximo Gómez CTE in Mariel, unit 1 from the Antonio Guiteras CTE in Matanzas, unit 6 from the Diez de Octubre CTE in Nuevitas, and unit 2 from the Felton CTE in Holguín.
Behind the chain of failures lie structural factors that the regime has neither been able to—not wanted to—resolve: plants that have been in operation for over four decades, a chronic shortage of spare parts, and more than three months without receiving shipments of oil, which further limits the country’s generation capacity.
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