The Antonio Guiteras plant, with a capacity of 280 megawatts (MW), was unable to rejoin the National Electric System on Sunday, as planned, and neither will this monday. Yesterday, the deficit reached 1,412 MW nationwide at peak hour, at 10:00 p.m., and the population took to the streets to protest in various parts of the Island.
The most noted and documented protests with videos broadcast on social networks were a cacerolazo in Bejucal (Mayabeque) and, especially in Santa Cruz del Sur (Camagüey), where residents took to the streets shouting “Díaz-Canel singao”, “down with Diaz-Canel”, “long live free Cuba” or “down with the full bellies up there”.
“The Antonio Guiteras CTE in the startup process had a problem in the excitation system for which a solution is sought. Its entry is not considered today,” reports the Cuban Electric Union (UNE) in its statement this Monday, which places the maximum deficit forecast for this Monday at 41%.
According to the information, at 7 in the morning there were 1,676 MW generated and a demand of 2,553 MW, that is, a difference of 872 MW, of which only 77 correspond to the damage caused by Hurricane Ian. In addition, it is considered that the maximum deficit will reach 1,000 MW.
The director of the main thermoelectric plant in Cuba, Misbel Palmero Aguilar, told this Sunday in statements broadcast by Canal Caribe that “a crack on the outside of a boiler wall, detected during the start-up process” on Saturday, has prevented the synchronization of the plant.
The official added that “this crack has nothing to do with the breakdown that occurred in previous days”, confirming that the dying Guiteras has a difficult solution.
In addition, the official added that “this crack has nothing to do with the breakdown that occurred in previous days”, confirming that the dying Guiteras has a difficult solution. Palmero Aguilar said that, when the start-up process was being carried out on Saturday, when the boiler pressure rise reached 70%, this crack appeared in one of the tubes that supports one of the burners.
The director added that the Guiteras has “mechanical defects caused by expansions and contractions typical of the start-up and shutdown processes in a plant with 34 years of operation” and stressed that the thermoelectric plant is subject to continuous tensions in the stops and starts “and that it was not possible to detect it at the time of the hydraulic test that was carried out after the repair made to the boiler”.
Now it is a question of determining its caliber to solve the crack, but the evidence is that the plant has been idle for more days than it has been working since the summer and the citizens still do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the jokes with which the daily news from the UNE is taken, the desperation is evident.
“Do not try to start Guiteras anymore, that no longer works. Stop spending money on something else and finish investing in that. They do not realize that this is the main problem of the country,” says one of the numerous comments to the news this Monday. “La Guiteras. Season 5. Chapter 250. The New Cooling,” ironizes another. “La Guiteras has been without service for more than ten days. Today is the excitement, yesterday it was a leak, tomorrow another leak will be sure. The provincials resisting and the citizens of the capital look at us calmly. The problem is only for those of us who live in the interior provinces” , adds another reader.
The blackouts in the provinces exceed, by far, any cut in the capital. The correspondent of 14ymedio in Holguín this Sunday he spent 12 hours without power, from 6 p.m. on Sunday to 6 a.m. on Monday.
another reader of Cubadebate who lives in the same province, in the Zayas neighborhood, affirms that he has been without water service for a month and blackouts that last half a day. “Hundreds of calls to those who must attend to the water supply and zero solution, explanations and justifications, thousands. Leaders are needed with more speed in their efforts,” she reproaches.
The information provided by the UNE is replicated every day in the official newspaper and it only takes a few minutes for it to become the most read and commented on news of the day, even in a medium controlled by the State. The messages leave no room for doubt: the population is reaching its limit.
“Only the truth can get us out of this quagmire of misrule in which we find ourselves. Nothing works: there is no electricity, lousy water service, basic foods such as bread, milk, sugar, etc., in total deficit. Medicines are scarce and other products. Stores in MLC (freely convertible currency) at exorbitant prices for Cubans. We have to begin to recognize the problems, starting with the news, and face the people. More criticism and real changes and leave the slogans and networks Urgent changes needed and no more frills,” writes another user.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
