Havana/The turbine operator Carlos Rafael López Ibarra is injured after an accident suffered in the Thermoelectric Central (CTE) Antonio Maceo Grajales of Santiago de Cuba, known as Renté. The news was confirmed by the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE), a day after becoming known on social networks.
The events occurred on Sunday night, at 9:30 p.m., says the state statement, when a steam pipe “presented failures during starting and synchronization” of generation unit number 5. The text does not detail what kind of failures, but indicates that “as a consequence”, the 33 -year -old worker, “suffered burns after sudden vapor release at high temperatures.”
According to the Facebook page The scissorsthe young man was seriously injured “when a steam pipe at 10 pressure atmospheres broke violently.” The publication adds that “trying to get out of the place of the incident, rolled along a ladder more than 5 meters high, also hitting the head” and that the diagnosis is “critical and reserved”, with 89% of burns in the body.
“It is conscious, ventilating spontaneously, feeding orally. With all assured medications and supplies”
This last fact is corroborated by the UNE statement, which specifies that the state in which the injured person is, admitted to the Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso hospital, is “extreme critic with reserved prognosis, stable at the moment.” The official source adds: “It is aware, ventilating spontaneously, feeding orally. With all medicines and insured supplies.”
These last details demolish several of the comments to the publications in networks, some of which assured that the worker had died. They are, in any case, a direct response to the publication of the scissors, in which it was denounced that the workers were collecting money “to buy eggs” for the patient – the clear ones are used to treat burns – because “there are no minimum medical supplies to attend emergencies of this type.”
According to the anonymous complaint received by that Facebook page, “the workers themselves say that the maintenance is done ‘with nothing, absolutely nothing’, exposing the life of those who keep standing an electrical system in ruins.” Similarly, the page states that state security would have given “orders to block all information about the accident and the worker’s data.”
The UNE statement highlights, on the contrary, the authorities’ concern to the highest level. Thus, it indicates that the first secretary in Santiago de Cuba, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, and Governor Manuel Falcón Hernández “visited the young López Ibarra in the hospital and were interested in the attention they and his companions receive.” They also refer, “the plant authorities maintain collaboration with the relatives of the injured worker.”
Race to its custom, UNE does not include on Tuesday the list of damaged thermoelectricas
The “exact causes of the vapor infrastructure failure” are still investigated, they conclude.
Just on Saturday, Unit 5, which had been reinstated to the National Electric System (SEN) just last week, stopped working. The general director of Electricity of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lázaro Guerrahe had assured National Television on Sunday morning that he would go into service that same day at night, but what happened within that period was López Ibarra’s serious accident.
This Monday, the energy deficit in Cuba marked one of its highest figures. Up to 1,961 megawatts (MW) were missing in the peak schedule, more than expected due, the UNE explained, to “the loss of 150 MW in Energas Jaruco due to failure in gas valve.”
The forecast For this Tuesday It is even worse: the state foresees 1.976 megawatts (MW) of real affectation in the afternoon-night, which for a demand of 3,750 MW and an availability of 1,844 MW-the initial deficit is 1,906 MW-will mean a lack of more than half of the necessary energy.
The data is approaching the energy shortage records registered last Julywhen there were three days –15, 20 and 21– in which the 2,000 MW of deficit was exceeded.
In contrast to its custom, UNE does not include on Tuesday the list of damaged thermoelectric plants, but it is useful for the 28 installed solar parks: a maximum power delivered to the 556 MW SEN, only during daytime. This Monday, however, They appeared out of service Two units of the Santa Cruz CTE (…), one unit in Felton (Holguín), another in Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cienfuegos) and three units in La Renté (Santiago de Cuba), as well as 52 distributed generation plants, due to lack of fuel, among several reasons.
