The Electric Union of Cuba announced this Thursday a deficit of up to 20% in the energy supply, after three days of relative stability during the official festivities for July 26.
The deficit this Thursday will be 17.9% in the hours of greatest consumption, with an availability of 2,502 megawatts (MW) and a maximum demand of 2,950 MW, the state company reported in its usual statement.
This Wednesday, the poor electricity supply began to affect users from 10:42 am and was restored at 10:30 pm. The company also reported that eight units out of a total of five thermoelectric plants in the country are out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance.
Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged in a speech before Parliament on July 22, the unrest among the population due to the cuts, which have been intensifying in recent months. He added that those who blame the government for handling the prolonged blackouts “are responding to what the counterrevolution wants.”
Despite the deals with foreign companies to repair thermoelectric plants, the crisis in the Cuban energy system will not have an immediate solution
The Government affirms that the cuts in the supply have been caused by breakdowns in the plants, the lack of fuel for generation and scheduled maintenance. Despite state rhetoric, which states that everything possible is being done to avoid blackouts, and deals with foreign companies to repair thermoelectric plants, the crisis in the Cuban energy system does not seem to have an immediate solution.
A reportage published today in Cubadebate collects the testimony of the workers of the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant. Affected by rust and marine microorganisms, the machinery repeats the pattern of other plants in the country: the lack of spare parts and the lack of adequate maintenance.
In a thermoelectric plant, they work “many early mornings, many Saturdays, Sundays, many carnivals; maintenance is twenty-four hours,” says a 72-year-old technician.
“The units are not given the maintenance they carry, so each operation becomes more complicated,” another operator admits to the official press. “There is a lot of instability of parameters, we are working with parameters that are not in accordance with the plant’s system. We have to keep our eyes wide open. One mistake on our part and the plant goes out of business.”
“I left work early one morning and came home without power. I can’t sleep. I suffer the same”
“I have left work one morning and I come home without power. I can’t sleep. I suffer the same,” adds another.
Nevertheless, Cubadebate He has no qualms about stating that the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant is “one of the most stable in the country.”
At the beginning of July, the Felton thermoelectric plant, in the Holguin municipality of Mayarí, suffered considerable damage due to a large fire. This accident meant an even greater deterioration of the national electricity system, unable to implement the necessary actions to achieve energy stability in the short term.
The blackouts were, along with other serious economic and political problems, the cause of the massive protests of 11J. And they have also been the trigger for the recent mobilizations against the Government, such as those that took place in Los Palacios (Pinar del Río) or other smaller ones in other municipalities of the country.
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