"Cuban Frustration Grows Amidst Power Outages and Uncertain Future of the Guiteras Plant"

While the Cuban government announced a hydraulic test at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant on Wednesday as a preliminary step before a potential restart, hundreds of Cubans vented their anger and skepticism on social media after enduring months of power outages.

Román Pérez Castañeda, the engineer in charge of the plant, confirmed to Radio 26 that the hydraulic test was expected to commence by the end of the day. If successful, they would proceed with starting the plant. Due to the cold start, the process could take up to eight hours to synchronize the unit with the National Electric System (SEN).

Official journalist José Miguel Solís from Matanzas explained on Facebook that workers at the electric plant maintenance company are striving to maintain power generation during this time of year, as the Guiteras is due for general maintenance in the winter.

Public Outrage and Distrust

The public’s reaction was swift and full of discontent.

From the Versalles neighborhood in the capital of Matanzas, a social media user lamented, "Guiteras seems unrelated to us. We are going on 94 hours without power." In Colón, another resident simply stated, "Five days without electricity." A third user cynically predicted, "They’ll start it on Wednesday and shut it down by Thursday morning."

Skepticism about the longevity of any repairs dominated the comments. "I bet three revolutionary achievements that it won’t last two days," one person commented. "It doesn’t matter, it’ll be the same blackout hours anyway," another added pessimistically.

Cynicism and Structural Failures

Some users pointed out the recurring breakdowns as evidence of structural failure. "Better do it once and for all. From January till now, more than 17 shutdowns for the same reason," noted a user. Another warned, "By winter, they’ll have to stop it more than 17 times. I hope I’m wrong, but we’ll be here."

A resident from Jagüey Grande raised concerns about unequal electricity distribution: "We, the people of poor northern Jagüey, have been without power since Sunday. We need someone who can ensure fair distribution and eliminate favoritism."

Another user directly criticized the officials: "It's not Guiteras causing these 26-plus-hour blackouts; it's the municipal officials who don't want to do their jobs properly because they only care about themselves, leaving the rest of us to suffer."

The Guiteras plant exited the SEN for the 17th time this year on July 3, once again due to a leak in the economizer of its boiler, a component responsible for half of the plant’s shutdowns this year. When operational, Guiteras contributes nearly 10% of SEN’s power.

Promises and Delays

The announcement came three days after the third nationwide blackout of the year, on July 6, when a unit failure at the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant triggered a cascading disconnection, leaving around 9.6 million people without power, marking the seventh total blackout of the SEN in 18 months.

The plant has been in continuous operation for over 38 years without major maintenance since 2010.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy promised a thorough intervention by the end of 2025 but postponed it in December and announced it again in April without setting a date.

Fully repairing the economizer would require replacing around 500 tubes in a stop lasting at least 180 days, a task the government has yet to undertake.

An internet user encapsulated the frustration, asking, "Has it ever been fixed? Yes, when it was new. Or has it always been broken? Every day they supposedly do maintenance for the summer. Where is the summer plan they bragged about?"