The state-owned Electric Union of Cuba reported this Tuesday that the units of the thermoelectric plants of Felton, in Holguín, and Diez de Octubre in Nuevitas, Camagüey, which were out of service due to breakdowns since the end of the week, have already been incorporated into the national generation system. of week.
“There is no deficit in generation capacity since yesterday at noon,” assured the technical director of the UNE, engineer Lázaro Guerra, on state television.
“There is no deficit in generation capacity since yesterday at noon,” assured the technical director of the UNE, engineer Lázaro Guerra, on state television
When registering the breakage in the units, the UNE explained last Saturday in a statement that an “unforeseen situation” had occurred that forced blackouts to be scheduled in the territories, where these plants are installed.
The director of the state company warned that although generation has recovered, breakdowns can cause new “affectations.”
He also pointed out that the forthcoming arrival on the island of another floating power plant of Turkish origin will contribute 15 megawatts of energy to the national electricity system and will also serve as fuel storage.
The addition of this unit to four others that already operate in the country as part of the first project of the Turkish company Karen in Latin America, has the objective of alleviating the generation deficit caused in recent months by frequent breakdowns in Cuban thermoelectric plants.
This reinforcement allows the maintenance of other thermoelectric plants, contributes to increasing the national reserve and replaces the use of diesel, one of the most expensive fuels for generation, according to official media.
The other Turkish floating plants are located in the bay of Havana and in the vicinity of the Máximo Gómez Báez thermoelectric plant, in the western province of Artemisa. Cuba has 5.87 GW of installed generation capacity, of which 3.2 GW are operational, according to UNE data.
In recent weeks, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, located in Matanzas, the largest in the country, also suffered an unscheduled shutdown due to breakdowns. At that time, the problem of the Máximo Gómez de Mariel, which was being repaired after the explosion of a turbine that caused a fire on March 7, had not yet been resolved.
This caused a spike in the demand for diesel which, according to the authorities, was the main reason for queues of up to eight hours reported at some gas stations in Havana and other areas.
The situation forced the UNE to schedule service interruptions of up to three hours in a row in some neighboring territories.
In addition, this caused a spike in the demand for diesel which, according to the authorities, was the main reason for the queues of up to eight hours reported at some gas stations in Havana and other areas.
The announcement of restrictions on the sale of fuel set off alarm bells and many Cubans flocked to gas stations, sometimes filling containers, something prohibited by the authorities under the circumstances.
Last summer, the inability of the system to meet the electricity demand at certain times was one of the triggers for the massive anti-government protests on July 11, along with the serious economic crisis, the overflow of the health system due to the pandemic and the lack of freedoms.
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