A satellite photo reveals that the "Spit Pinar"in Havana, it will have nine engines

Havana/The “asticar plain”, Located at the Caribbean Shipyard Springsin Havana, it is under construction from at least the beginning of this year. A satellite photo of March, shared with this newspaper by the expert of the University of Texas Jorge Piñón, shows the progressive construction of the chimneys.

Mentioned only a couple of times by the authorities of the Electric Union, the central one – which, unlike the Pin Turks is not floating, but is on land – it is still a mystery. Nestled at a state shipyard spring that belongs to the Gemar Business Group, of the Ministry of Transportation, it is unknown where the engines came from, what generation capacity they can have and how much Havana disbursed – if it is not a donation – to acquire them.

However, it is clear that asticar is still under construction. Until now it only has six visible chimneys, numbered from 4 to 9 at the tip, suggesting that at least three more are missing. In photos taken by 14ymediothree other scaffolding are noticeable to those that support the chimneys just next to the side, indicating that Torres 1, 2 and 3 are still under construction.

About the origin of the “Pinana”, located a short distance from where the Turk was used to be Suheyla Sultanthat He left in August and, with it, the 240 megawatts (MW) it produced. Piñón adventures several hypotheses. Seeing the construction date of the chimneys, the engines could have arrived aboard the floating plant Cankuthan Beyby Karpowership, in December 2024.

According to UNE then, the Cankuthan Bey He arrived in Havana on Sunday, December 8 “to implement its units and, once concluded” he left Cuba last September.

Another theory is that the generation units of Asticar – or at least part of them – have arrived aboard the heavy cargo ship Okhe last Mayalthough the satellite image, which shows the half -building chimneys, suggests that the site of the “pin” started months before.

As for the origin, everything indicates that the chimneys are Turkish, although it could also be a donation of the many made by China to Cuba in recent months, or even a third partner that the regime refuses to reveal. In the first case, Piñón points out, each of the nine engines, similar to those of floating plants, would have a capacity of 15 or 20 MW, which would give a total generation of 135 or 180 MW.

The mention of the “Asticar Pinar” at the beginning of this week in a fault report of the Habanera electricity company also implies that the “Pablana” could be working at medium capacity, while they finish installing the corresponding engines and chimneys.

The secretism with which the authorities act has also been reflected in the agreements signed with the Turkish company Karpowership (Karadeniz Holding) since the arrival of the first Pinin 2019. The cost for Cuba was never known, although in August 2023 it was estimated that the invoice rose to More than 100 million dollars. Before Havana’s inability to pay that amount, the Turks gradually withdrew their Pin – From the eight there was only one, in order – and they got compensation. Although it is a secret agreement again, it is known that the Turkish shipping company Karen Caribbean Shipyard was awarded a port concession in a part of the springs of the state shipyard of the Caribbean (Astict), where they are precisely installing the new engines to produce energy.

The silence around this central and its installation does not fit with the Ansias of the authorities to show at all costs that in the country “work” to reduce the hours of blackouts. The best example is the delivery of solar panels and Chinese industrial generators, which the official press has announced on each occasion with hype and saucer ensuring that each extra MW that reaches the SEN relieves the load of the thermoelectric overexploited of the island.

However, neither the photovoltaic with its thousands of installed panels nor the Chinese generators have been able to alleviate the enormous deficit that the island lives daily. The lack of current has been normalized in the country to the point that 1,570 MW of deficit forecast for this Sunday by the UNE they seem like a relief compared to the 1,840 that were recorded Last Tuesday.