A piece of land that had been accumulating waste in front of the Meat Company in the capital municipality of Guantánamo has been transformed into a community service and loading center, inaugurated on Tuesday as the third of its kind in the city and the first in the province managed by a state entity.
The facility is under the administration of the Supply and Services Company for Education and serves the residents of the Sur Isleta People's Council, reported on Facegook by the official page Mi Guantánamo, of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power.
The opening was held as a welcome to the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year and was attended by Yoel Pérez García, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in the province.
The center operates with energy autonomy thanks to 15 kilowatts (kW) of installed capacity in solar panels and 12 kW of storage in inverters.
"The operation of the facility is managed using renewable energy sources, which ensures energy autonomy," explained Yeannis Cordero, deputy mayor for services in the municipality.
Among the available services are a set of rice cookers and pressure cookers for food preparation, a refrigerator, and facilities to charge phones, laptops, tablets, electric fans, scooters, tricycles, and electric bicycles, with plans to expand the offerings, specified a report from the official newspaper Venceremos.
Residents of the area were able to see the usefulness of the space even before its official inauguration, as during the last disconnection of the national electric power system, which occurred a few days before the opening, the center was already in operation.
Unlike the previous two centers in the provincial capital, both operated by private small and medium enterprises, this one marks a shift in the management model as it is now under the control of a state-owned company.
The first one opened on July 25 on the streets of Crombet and Martí, managed by the Mipyme Sabor Auténtico, and the second was inaugurated on August 12 in the San Justo Popular Council.
The new location is part of a rapidly expanding provincial network. Guantánamo plans to build around 30 community charging centers throughout the province, of which six are already operational in the municipalities of Maisí, Imías, and Guantánamo.
These facilities, popularly known as "solineras," emerged as a decentralized response to the energy crisis that particularly affects Guantánamo, a province that relies on a single 110 kV transmission line from Santiago de Cuba.
In June, a shot in that line left the entire province without electricity, with some areas experiencing up to 33 consecutive hours without service.
The provincial investment to build these charging stations in the capital of Guantánamo amounts to around 25 million pesos, carried out jointly by state-owned companies and private small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes).
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