After more than a year of maintenance, block 4 of the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant It turned on its boiler last Sunday and has been carrying out tests with a view to its synchronization.
“Once this unit completes the testing and correction processes, it will contribute about 158 megawatts (MW) to the National Electrical System, which will allow greater stability for its operation,” The newspaper stated this Monday Granma.
However, even today the Cienfuegos block remains disconnected and reported in maintenance by the Electrical Union (UNE). And while the checks of its operation and safety have been maintained, other thermoelectric plants have suffered breakages again.
This Monday they were three damaged units: Nuevitas 6, Renté 5 and Renté 6. Of them, the one in Camagüey re-synced at the beginning of the nightbut the other two remain out of service, so there are currently nine blocks stopped for repairs.
Three thermoelectric plants – Mariel, Santa Cruz and the aforementioned Renté – even have a couple of units not working, while Nuevitas maintains its block 5 damaged.
None of these plants are scheduled to be reinstated this Tuesday, according to the UNE.
Thermal limitations and lack of fuel
Breakdowns are not the only problem with the deficit electricity generation in Cuba. The limitations of the thermal units in operation amount to 398 MW, while due to lack of fuel and lubricants, 1000 MW will no longer be produced today.
With particular regard to the fuel deficit, there are 100 distributed generation plants stopped for this reason. This is an impact that has remained practically unchanged for weeks and does not aim to improve in a context marked by pressure from the United States on Venezuela.
In this way, the availability at dawn this Tuesday was 1,420 MW, with 950 MW affected by generation deficit. That figure should increase to 1,100 MW at noon, according to official forecasts, despite the contribution of the solar parks, which yesterday had a maximum power in that time slot of 523 MW.
Already in the night peak, the maximum impact will once again approach 2000 MW, while availability will not have a significant increase. In this way, the blackouts will continue to hit Cubans hard, while the official forecast could be in debt again if another breakdown occurs or the planned incorporations do not occur.
