The drama of the National Electric System (SEN) of Cuba seems to have no end. This Tuesday, after had officially predicted Another day of high deficit and blackouts on the island, a break in the Felton thermoelectric plant further complexized the panorama.
The fault occurred in the cooling system of the generator of Unit 1 of Felton, which forced to disconnect that plant, one of the greatest power on the island.
As reported The electricity union (UNE), the damaged system “has a leak that represents a very high risk of maintaining the operation of the block and necessarily requires intervention.”
“You have to cool the turbine for seven days and then proceed to the disarmament of the generator’s housing and locate the failure for its solution,” said the UNE, which estimated in “approximately 20 days” the return of that unit to SEN.
The breakage of the Holguin block occurred less than a week after its reinstatement to the electrical system, which at the end of January had been disconnected to be subjected to maintenance.
Then 10 days of work were foreseen, which were slightly reduced at a time when the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant was also disconnected by a fault, the other Battle horse of the SEN that in recent days has reported some problems, although until now kept working.
More blackouts
As expected, the departure of Felton 1 triggered the blackouts above the already high forecast for yesterday and the forecasts point to record figures in the next days.
The maximum affectation this Tuesday was 1,736 MW at the maximum demand schedule and the blackouts were extended all morning, the UNE refers, according to which at 7:00 am the affectation climbed up to 987 MW.
At noon, the planned figure is 1,250 MW and in the night peak it rises to 1,870 MW, which if fulfilled or overcome would be another negative record for the SEN. At that time, the generation will not reach 1500 MW while demand will approach 3300, so around 57 % of the country will be dull simultaneously, according to official numbers.
This is the maximum impact registered so far from 2025 and at least in the last two years, according to UNE data, collated daily by the Spanish Agency EFE.
However, this affectation could be even greater if the entrance to the SEN of Unit 6 of the Nuevitas thermoelectric plant is not produced – which this morning was in the process of starting – or if another breakdown occurs in any of the plants that are They keep working.
This Wednesday dawn four units damaged and five in maintenance, including the aforementioned Nuevitas, while the lack of fuel subtracts the 527 MW a whopping to the already depressed generation capacity. A total of 57 distributed generation plants and rule and melons are affected for that reason.
With all of the above, the electrical scenario is again at a critical point in Cuba, which perpetuates a crisis that extends for several years and that, far from improving, has continued in decline despite government strategies and promises on This sensitive topic.
The long blackouts – which have extended for up to 20 hours in a row and of which the Government mostly holds the United States sanctions – hit the depauperada Cuban economy and extract the lives of Cuban families, stating social discontent and The unstoppable migratory wave that the island suffers.
