AREQUIPA, Peru – The first breakdown of 2025 at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest generating block in Cuba, will worsen the energy situation in the country for days, increasing the deficit and electrical blackouts.
A technological failure in the boiler caused, this Saturday, the departure of Guiteras from the National Electric System (SEN), explained to the state Canal Caribe the director of the National Load Dispatch of the Electrical Union, Félix Estrada Rodríguez.
The source specified that brigades from the National Power Plant Maintenance Company (EMCE) and the facility itself will undertake the repair of the unforeseen breakdown in the thermal machine.
Rubén Campos Olmo, general director of the industry, said that “with this unforeseen departure, the work designed for next week’s intervention begins, which includes inspection of the boiler, cleaning of the regenerative air heaters and other tasks planned in detail. ”.
Between the correction of the defect in the valve and the planned maintenance tasks corresponding to next week, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant could remain out of the system for up to four days, according to reports.
One day after the departure of the SEN from the aforementioned generating block, the deficit on the Island already shows a significant increase.
According to the daily report of the Electrical Union of Cuba (UNE), some nine thermoelectric units in the country are not in operation.
In particular, units 5 and 8 of the CTE Mariel (unit 8 in the startup process) and unit 2 of the CTE Felton are in failure. Likewise, in maintenance there are units 2 and 3 of the CTE Santa Cruz, the CTE Guiteras unit, units 3 and 4 of the CTE Cienfuegos and unit 5 of the CTE Renté.
In this context, an availability of 1,750 megawatts (MW) and a maximum demand of 3,100 MW are estimated for the peak, for a deficit of 1,350 MW. If the expected conditions continue, an impact (what will actually be disconnected) of 1,420 MW is forecast at this time, plunging almost half of the Island into a blackout.
The blackouts further complicate the country’s already tense energy situation and not only deteriorate the economic performance of Cuba, which has been mired in a serious crisis for years, but have also been the trigger for anti-government protests. The most notable ones occurred on July 11, 2021the largest in decades, and most recently on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba and other locations.
