The municipality of Guantánamo is in the process of constructing and installing more than 15 community charging and service stations distributed across eight of the 10 Popular Councils in the provincial capital. This initiative is a temporary response to the collapse of the National Electroenergetic System, which has left the population without electricity for hours.
The initiative was detailed this Thursday by Yanney Cordero Martínez, vice president of the Provincial Administration Council, who explained to the station Radio Guantánamo that each facility will have a power output of 30 kW and a battery storage capacity of 60 kW, and will operate 24 hours a day.
Far from being just charging points, the centers are designed to meet basic needs that power outages have made impossible in households.
"With a power of 30 kW, they are designed according to the project, and with a storage capacity of 60 kW. These charging and service stations will be equipped with rice and bean cooker kits, that is, pressure cookers, so that people can prepare rice and beans that they can bring there. If desired, it will be possible to sit down and enjoy a pleasant time," Cordero explained.
In addition to cooking, residents will be able to recharge phones, tablets, electric bicycles, and scooters, as well as watch television while they wait. The facilities will also feature solar lamps that will light up the surrounding area, including nearby streets, the source added.
The cost of the service has not yet been determined. According to the official, "the cost of these services is still being evaluated and studied based on the cost estimate that it may have, and it should be a reasonable price, affordable for the Guantanamo population."
The total investment amounts to around 25 million pesos and is being carried out jointly between state-owned companies and private small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes).
The municipality of Imías has already inaugurated the first of these centers outside the provincial capital, and the plan aims to progressively extend the model to the rest of the municipalities in the province, it was reported.
The magnitude of the bet reflects the depth of the crisis. Guantánamo relies on a single 110-kilovolt line from Santiago de Cuba to connect to the national grid, making it one of the most vulnerable provinces in the country.
In June, a fault in that line left the entire province in darkness, with eight damaged transformers and no available replacements; residents went without electricity for up to 33 hours.
The situation became so unsustainable that in July the provincial leadership of the Communist Party called for a reduction in citizen complaints, which exceeded 150 daily grievances.
Additionally, the government enabled more than 60 audiovisual viewing centers in public squares so that the population could watch television during power outages.
The phenomenon of solar charging stations, popularly known as "solineras," has spread across the island due to the regime's inability to address the underlying issue.
The first solar charging station in Holguín, El Girasol, opened in June, generated controversy due to rates ranging from 50 to 500 pesos per hour, while provinces like Matanzas plan to establish nine collective solar charging points.
The SEN has experienced at least seven total collapses so far this year.
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