In a story that is repeated, this Wednesday, at 9:14 in the morning, the National Electrical System of Cuba (SEN) He suffered a new “total disconnection.” The trigger for the new fall this time was – or, rather, was again – an “unforeseen exit” of the thermoelectric plant Antonio Guiteras, the main unit block in the country.
According to Rubén Campos Olmo, director of the Matancera plant, “a false superheated steam signal caused the automatic boiler scheme to be disarmed, and with it the exit of the thermal block occurred.” Although problem could be solved later, As reported The manager himself was already done.
The disconnection of the Guiteras subtracted suddenly around 200 MW to SEN, which was in a fragile situation due to the previous paralysis of eight thermal units due to breakdowns or maintenance, including Unit 1 of Felton, another of the great generators of the island.
What would happen next was predictable. The SEN, which also accused the loss of more than 200 MW due to fuel deficit and almost 300 for limitations in the plants in operation, fell apart like a castle of cards and left all Cuba again.
Only a few days before, a fault in a 220 kV line between Nuevitas and Las Tunas had disconnected the Eastern region and launched a notice. By explaining what happened and addressing the breach of official forecasts for summer, Alfredo López, general director of the Electric Union (UNE), admitted that the current electroenergetic situation “is very hard.” And he is not wrong in his diagnosis.
The prolonged energy crisis of the island – provocated by the antiquity and poor condition of the thermoelectricas, authorities.
The maximum effects of affectations higher than 2000 MW achieved in recent months And the 20 and more hours blackouts in various Cuban towns do not give a margin to doubt.
In this critical scenario, general disconnections such as yesterday are not a surprise and begin to naturalize with resignation in the social imaginary of the Cubans, and also in the government narrative, which puts its greatest emphasis on the effort – innegable, for others – of the workers of the sector to overcome the crisis, rather than in the crisis itself.
The falls and the fragility of SEN
In less than a year, between the final months of 2024 and what goes from 2025, Cuba has suffered five total disconnections.
That figure speaks for itself of the fragility of SEN in this period, result – by others – of a cumulative process that does not even go back to the beginning of the current crisis, but much further back and is based on the long debt of capital maintenance and necessary spare parts, along with bad decisions, which suffers the aging generation infrastructure in the country.
If we are in the energy crisis of recent years to try a chronology of the system collapses, by force of being fair, it would be necessary to go back at the end of September 2022. Then, the passage of the Hurricane Ian Not only left much of the western region without current due to the effects suffered, but also caused A general fall.
On that occasion the cause was the “instability” caused by the differences in load and generation between the west and the east of the country, at a particularly complex moment by the weather event. The restoration of the SEN had to be carried out in that difficult scenario and still many people did not have electricity until the damage of the hurricane was not possible to compensate.
It was not until two years later, in October last year, that the following total disconnection occurred, although before – and then – partial failures and falls occurred as those that left the center and east of the country without electricity In February 2023.
Chronology of disconnections
From the final quarter of 2024 to date, the general falls of the SEN have been the following:
1- October 18, 2024: Like this Wednesday, an “unforeseen exit” of the Guiteras thermoelectric plant was the cause of the collapse that occurred at 11:00 in the morning, one day after the government will proclaim A “national energy emergency” in the middle of a severe peak of blackouts. The recovery was extended for almost five days, with other falls while working.
2- November 6, 2024: Less than a month after the previous fall, the SEN collapsed again during the roof of the Hurricane Rafael. The disconnection happened shortly before 3:00 pm, due to “a shot in unison of several circuits before the incidence of winds,” according to UNE. As happened during the passage of Ian, the restoration work were marked by the damage of the meteor.
3- December 4, 2024: Again Guiteras was responsible for disconnection. The mass blackout occurred in the early morning, at 2:08 am, due to a “automatic shot” of the Matancera Central. This time, however, the recovery was faster and in just one day The system could be linked thanks to the entry of the main generating plants.
4- March 14, 2025: The fourth general fall in six months and the first of 2025. It happened at 20:15 pm and its cause was not this time a meteorological phenomenon or a break in one of the main thermoelectric plants of the country, but a breakdown in the substation of the dec dec, in Havana, which caused a “high oscillation” in the SEN. The Complete reconnection It took two days.
5- September 10, 2025: For the third time a failure in the Guiteras leads to a general blackout in Cuba, the fifth in a little less than a year. Twelve hours later, most of the country remained in the dark, although 500 MW were generated, a figure that amounted to 1000 MW At 6:00 am this Thursday. Shortly after It was possible to reconnect almost the whole countryalthough some territories were still without integrating.
Almost all Cuba is already linked to SEN, according to the electricity union
Recovery and next falls?
The recovery strategy followed now is the same as in the previous collapses. This is based on assembling microsystems in the different provinces, mainly from the generation with diesel and fueland also from energy plants.
Then the provinces are connected to the regional level to the extent that their systems are strengthened and the available thermoelectric plants can be energized, which take longer to enter into operation. Finally, when the conditions are created, the total link is proceeded.
It is arduous and progressive work, in which key places such as hospitals and water pumping plants are prioritized. In addition, the process is not exempt from setbacks and new falls, such as that occurred yesterday in Havana, which forced recovery in the capital.
However, that Sen manages to linked completely does not mean that all Cuban towns have electricity. Local difficulties and disconnections could still persist, and many people will continue in the dark due to the high deficit in generation capacity, unable to cover demand throughout the day and night for months.
That brand deficit – or, actually, darkens – the electroenergetic scenario of Cuba, and its causes, already sustained for a long time, are a perennial Damocles sword. As long as they cannot be resolved through actions of sustained effect and the SEN maintains their precarious current condition, the effort of workers in the electricity sector may not be sufficient.
The next falls could be a matter of time.
