Madrid/The ship Exelero Gasdedicated to the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Cuba under the flag of the Marshall Islands, sails towards Jamaica after having been this Sunday in Willemstad, Curacao. Its current draft, 4.2 meters, indicates that the tanker was unable to load LPG on the Dutch island and will try to do so in Kingston, where the Eugenia Gas this Saturday, according to the specialist from the University of Texas, Jorge Piñón.
The attempt cost the country the scarce fuel available, the expert told this newspaper on Saturday, when the ship returned to Santiago de Cuba after seeing the attempt to approach the Petrojam refinery in the Jamaican capital frustrated. It was the second failure of the Cuban fleet in half a month, after at January closing he Emilywhich operates under the Cuban flag, was unable to acquire LPG in Kingston.
Jamaica has been a regular supplier of the cooking gas used in Cuba, but that day the order signed by Donald Trump had just come into effect, threatening tariffs on any country that delivered fuel to the Island. VesselFinder records then indicated that the Emily He left the Island with the same draft with which he returned.
Bloomberg published an analysis based on satellite images of the light levels emitted by the Island and determined that the drop reaches 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín
Restrictions on fuel have complicated a situation that was already extremely precarious in the last two years. This weekend, the economic environment Bloomberg published an analysis based on satellite images of the light levels emitted by the Island and which determined that the drop reaches 50% in cities such as Santiago de Cuba and Holguín when compared to the historical average. In rural areas, the situation is even worse, while Havana still showed a strong advantage at the time the research was carried out, with the exception of the areas of Cojímar and Alamar, significantly darker than the rest.
This Sunday, the Electrical Union of Cuba informed the population at peak hour of a demand of 3,009 megawatts (MW) compared to a generation capacity of 1,427. But, in addition, the day was marked by an incident that caused laughter within the dramatic situation.
Unit 1 of the Ernesto Guevara thermoelectric plant went offline due to a breakdown before 12 noon, came back in at almost 3 in the afternoon and was disconnected just one hour later. At 5:28 p.m. it reconnected to the system again, generating hilarity among some customers who couldn’t take it anymore: “Now I don’t remember if I was entering or leaving,” one said. “Like a Christmas tree: ‘I turn it on for a bit, turn it off for a bit,’” another joked. “In other words, he left twice and entered twice. The joke tells itself. Thank you, SEN (national electrical system), because, despite the criminal blackouts, you make us laugh every day,” commented one user.
Those who have been sanctioned for failing to comply with the Government’s savings plans will have less desire to laugh. He official media of the province of Las Tunas announced this weekend specific measures within its territory to contain energy expenditure, a constant in most of the Island depending on the characteristics and possibilities of its area.
“Like a Christmas tree: ‘I turn it on for a bit, turn it off for a bit,'” another joked.
Among the measures announced by Maritza González Llorente, director of the National Office for the Rational Use of Energy in Las Tunas, is the “only punitive measure” that will be applied to companies – state and private – that fail to comply with the consumption plan required of them, otherwise blunt, since it will be a power cut.
“All those who failed to comply with the consumption plan for the month of January are having their service cut off. This measure is notified 48 hours in advance. Then it is applied for at least 72 hours, and the maximum duration of the cut is extended until the defaulter recovers the overdraft,” the official explained.
The disconnection of “non-switchable” circuits will also be applied to the economic actors that are within them, for which it has had to be determined who benefits from being close to a hospital or any other vital service. “We will increase control actions in each of these non-switchable circuits, and we will check on weekends, from Friday to Monday, if the switches are open, to notify incidents,” the official warned.
