The entry into operation this week of three new solar parks photovoltaic plants, which bring the total in operation to 37, increases the contribution of renewable energy to the National Electric System (SEN), but the effects on the service continue to be high.
The most recent part of the SEN confirms the entry of the units in just 24 hours, although the number of these locations continues to be far below the government promise.
Today, Tuesday, these facilities provide 2,334 MW, with a maximum power of 474 MW at noon. However, on Monday, when 34 parks were active, generation was higher with 3,026 MW and reached a peak of 552 MW, according to the Electrical Union.
Despite the increase, the system continues to operate with a deficit. On Tuesday morning, availability was 1,560 MW compared to a demand of more than 2,100 MW, which forced disruptions to continue since early morning. For the night peak schedule, a demand of around 3,250 MW is estimated and a deficit of around 1,700 MW.
The limitations respond mainly to breakdowns in several units of the Mariel, Nuevitas, Felton and Antonio Maceo thermoelectric plants, as well as maintenance at the Santa Cruz and Cienfuegos plants. Added to this is the unavailability of more than 1,000 MW in distributed generation due to lack of fuel and lubricants.
The official report highlights that, although solar energy continues to gain space in the national energy matrix, its growth still does not compensate for thermal generation outputs or fuel restrictions that directly affect the stability of the service.
The unfinished plan of 2025
The government plan planned to install 51 solar parks of 21.8 MW in 2025, of which 32 were already operational in October and synchronized with the national electricity grid.
Almost at the end of 2025, installations began in the municipality of Cueto, in the province of Holguín, of the first Energy Storage System (BESS), a technology that will seek to provide greater stability to the National Electroenergy System in the midst of the crisis that the country is going through.
These batteries will allow the surplus generation from the solar panels to be conserved for use during consumption peaks or in the event of failures in the production plants, the company notes. Cuban News Agency.
This is, the report indicates, an infrastructure that must be extended to other strategic points in the country. Last August, a report from Cubadebate He announced that these units will also be installed in substations such as Bayamo 220, Cotorro 220 and Habana 220. Each one can store 50 MW.
Holguín begins the installation of batteries to back up the solar panels
According to international estimates, on light cloudy days, effectiveness can be reduced by 10% to 25%; When it is very cloudy or with light rain, the indicator can drop by 50% to 80%; Meanwhile, with heavy rain or storms, energy production can decrease by up to 90% or more, since sunlight is almost zero.
The logistics to implement these medium-sized parks, according to international standards, are enormous and require a considerable qualified workforce. Each 21.8 MW project requires 42,588 panels and 16,380 piles, detailed the Vice Minister of Construction, Antonio Mauri Medina, who highlighted the mobilization of 15,000 multisector workers to quickly install these solar farms.
While the old Cuban thermoelectric plants collapse again and again, the renewable energiesled by solar photovoltaics, emerge as a palliative with concrete advances, although still without the capacity to substantially reduce blackouts on the island.
Until last October, with a 9% participation in the national energy matrix – compared to a meager 2% in January – the contribution of the solar parks already synchronized to the National Electric System (SEN) contrasts with the decline and obsolescence of the plants that generate from fossil fuels, as confirmed authorities in the program Round Table.
