Power Outage Affects Much of Cuba After Guiteras Plant Shutdown

A malfunction at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, Cuba's largest, led to a widespread power outage from Camagüey to Pinar del Río on Wednesday, as reported by the Electric Union.

The Electric Union stated, "There was a disconnection of the National Electric System from Camagüey to Pinar del Río due to the unexpected shutdown of the CTE Antonio Guiteras caused by a leak in the boiler at 12:41 PM. All protocols for restoring the system are now in place."

Lázaro Guerra Hernández, the Director General of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, later clarified that the unexpected shutdown of the CTE Antonio Guiteras disrupted electrical service from the western part of Las Tunas to Pinar del Río. Meanwhile, the system remained operational from the eastern part of Las Tunas to Guantánamo.

The official added that protocols are being implemented to gradually restore the National Electric System (SEN). As a result of this technical incident, radio and television signals were temporarily interrupted in several regions of the country.

For years, the National Electric System has been under severe strain, frequently suffering breakdowns at thermoelectric plants, fuel shortages, and prolonged maintenance periods, leading to daily blackouts across much of the island.

In the past, similar incidents have caused massive and extended outages, destabilizing the service and impacting critical sectors.

By Wednesday, the situation was already dire, with forecasts indicating disruptions in over a third of the country. At 6:00 AM, the availability of the National Electric System (SEN) was only 1,180 MW, while demand soared to 2,250 MW, resulting in 1,050 MW being affected.