The shutdown of four units in which maintenance work is being carried out further compromises the generation capacity of the National Electric System (SEN) for the month of November, according to official media reports on the Island.
The objective of these actions is that the SEN arrives next December «with a ´availability greater than the current one, according to a note from the official newspaper Granma.
The engineer Lázaro Guerra Hernández, technical director of the Electric Union (Une), explained to the media that among the units that are in the maintenance process is number two of the Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE) Ernesto Guevara, from Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque, who must be incorporated into the system in the first days of this month.
Unit five of the CTE Diez de Octubre, from Nuevitas, in Camagüey and unit one of the CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez (Felton), from Holguín, are also in this condition, which would contribute 250 megawatts (MW) once it is synchronized. again.
Another plant under repair is unit three of CTE Antonio Maceo, in Santiago de Cuba, which should start generate electricity in December, added the specialists quoted by Granma.
It also transpired that until Tuesday afternoon, the Máximo Gómez, from Mariel, Artemisa, was carrying out tests on its turbine regulation system in order to begin startup.
This situation caused that at the time of greatest demand – around 7:10 pm – the SEN suffered a deficit in generation capacity of 1,609 MW, of which only 33 were the product of the effects caused by Hurricane Ian as it passed through the province of Pinar del Rio.
Information from the Une disseminated through its social networks indicates that for this Wednesday a maximum deficit is expected in daytime hours of 1150 MW, taking into account the number of units that are out of service due to breakdowns: five, six and seven from CTE Mariel, unit from CTE Otto Parellada, unit four from CTE Cienfuegos, unit four from CTE Nuevitas, unit two from CTE Felton and unit five from CTE Rente.
It was also reported that unit one of Felton was in the start-up process, which, if completed successfully, would alleviate the tensions currently suffered by the system, also affected by 327 MW because many of the plants in operation suffer wear and tear that prevents them from reaching their capacities. generation for which they were designed.
In turn, the 1,022 MW generated by the equipment responsible for distributed generation cannot be used, a system to which is added 720 MW unavailable by equipment that is now undergoing maintenance.
In this way, the Une forecasts an availability of 2,107 MW and a maximum demand of 3,250 MW for the peak hours of this Wednesday, for a deficit of 1,143 MW. If the forecast conditions are maintained, an affectation of 1,213 MW is expected during this time.
