19:14:09After his last entry just five days ago, the central thermoelectric Antonio Guiteras It once again left the National Electroenergetic System (SEN) “due to a crack in the boiler structure,” which will prolong the blackouts to close to 2,000 MW at night.
The Matanzas thermoelectric plant, the main unitary block of the country, had connected last Wednesday after several days away from the SEN for a “urgent” maintenance.
Rubén Campos Olmo, general director of the thermoelectric plant, explained to Giron that the fundamental cause of the stoppage is “a leakage failure at the level of the fourth level of burners”, which caused “expulsion of gases and some flames”.
To address the problem, he said, it is necessary to do it with the machine out of service and “depressurize the boiler,” a process that may take time depending “on the levels and characteristics of the impact,” still to be evaluated.
The engineer points out that this new Guiteras failure originated in a place “where work was not done during the recent light maintenance of the CTE”, but rather “it arose during the operation of the block, once it was reincorporated into the base generation”.
However, the outlook during yesterday’s session was not better. On Sunday, the electrical service was affected by capacity deficit for almost 20 consecutive hours, with a maximum of 1722 MW at 6:30 p.m.
The impact continued during the early hours of the morning and, at dawn, the availability of the SEN barely reached 1,170 MW compared to a demand of 2,000 MW, with more than 800 MW out of service. according to the official report of the Electrical Union.
The departure of Guiteras adds to an environment already stressed by multiple breakdowns and maintenance at key thermal power plants. Units in Mariel, Santa Cruz, Felton, Nuevitas, Cienfuegos and Renté remain out of service, while limitations on thermal generation exceed 580 MW.
Although for peak hours the partial incorporation of power from Felton, La Patana de Regla and engines in Moa is expected, the estimated maximum demand of 3100 MW maintains the forecast of an impact close to 1900 MW, in a day marked by the fragility of the system and the scarce operational reserve.
Cuba has been suffering a serious energy crisis since mid-2024 due to the frequent breakdowns of its obsolete thermoelectric plants and the lack of foreign currency to import the fuels necessary to fuel distributed generation.
The US military operation in Caracas on January 3 meant for Havana, in addition to the blow to a key regional ally, the end of vital energy supplies for the island. Then, US President Donald Trump increased the pressure by signing an executive order on January 29 that threatens tariffs on countries that sell oil to the island.
To face this scenario, the Government launched the emergency plan for fuel shortages that also includes rationing fuel sales, prioritizing teleworking and implementing blended classes at universities.
This anti-crisis package takes as reference the “indications” of former President Fidel Castro during the so-called Special Period, due to the depression that the fall of the Soviet bloc meant for the island.
