The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant, the largest generating plant in Cuba, is preparing for another outage from the National Electric Power System (SEN) due to a water loss in its boiler, as alerted on Facebook by journalist José Miguel Solís from Matanzas.
The outage occurs just one day after the plant was reconnected to the national electrical system, in what has become a pattern of interruptions that continuously exacerbates the electrical crisis in Cuba.
The history of July is particularly chaotic for the "Guiteras": on July 18, it synchronized with the SEN but lasted only 26 minutes before exiting again through a leak in the boiler.
The previous day it managed to reconnect, only to fail again this Tuesday.
So far in 2026, the plant has recorded at least 17 unplanned outages, with failures in the economizer and water leaks in the boiler being the main causes of half of these shutdowns.
The root of the problem is structural: The Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant, in Matanzas, has been in operation for over 38 years without having received major maintenance since 2010, which means 16 years without a comprehensive review.
An engineer from the plant confirmed in June that they do not have the necessary parts for more extensive repairs, and the definitive solution would require replacing approximately 500 tubes and performing between 1,000 and 1,200 weld beads, which would involve a 180-day shutdown that the authorities have been unable to carry out.
The rest of the electric power system also provides no relief: units 5 and 6 of the Máximo Gómez thermoelectric plant in Mariel, Artemisa, are out of service, as is unit 2 of the Ernesto Guevara plant in Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque, and unit 3 of the "Antonio Maceo" (Renté) in Santiago de Cuba.
Regarding the Lidio Ramón Pérez thermoelectric plant in Felton, Holguín, its unit 1 has already returned to the national electrical system after urgent repairs, but unit 2 remains out of service this Tuesday.
Furthermore, 106 distributed generation plants are out of service due to a lack of fuel, and the barges in Regla and Melones, along with the fuel plants in Mariel and Moa, also remain inoperative.
The outlook for this Tuesday is critical according to the informative note from the Electric Union: the availability during peak hours reaches only 1,080 MW against a projected demand of 3,200 MW, with an expected shortfall of 2,150 MW.
On Monday, the service was affected for 24 hours, including the early hours of the morning, with a maximum impact of 2,128 MW at 9:40 PM, which affected all provinces of the country.
The 54 photovoltaic solar parks generated 4,989 MWh on Monday, with a maximum capacity of 780 MW, a figure insufficient to compensate for the deficit that escalates during nighttime hours, when solar generation disappears and demand reaches its peak.
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