14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2025 — For Cubans, Lent does not end at the same time as in the rest of the world. Especially when it comes to energy, the Island’s electricity never arrives on Easter, and the resurrections promised by the Government for the national electricity system (SEN) never take place: for this Sunday the deficit forecast is 1,766 megawatts (MW), 52% of national demand.
“It was the Lord’s turn to rise again in the dark,” says Rubén, a resident of the Luyanó neighborhood in Havana, who has been suffering a blackout since midday, less than 24 hours after the previous one ended. “And I even live in the hospital circuit.” He, like all Cubans, has learned to live with the cuts, reconnections and shortages of the SEN and has memorized the geography and nomenclature of the thermoelectric power plants.
If the more than 1,700 MW of deficit this Sunday do not surprise Rubén, he explains, it is because since Saturday he knew about the departure from the system of unit 1 of the Felton, in Holguín.
Scheduled to start on Saturday, the Felton was stopped by an “unexpected” break. As explained by the authorities, a leak in the boiler that had not been detected before by the steam caused the disconnection. The plant had been running for a little over a month since its last failure in early March, which kept it out of action for four days.
This weekend there was also the breakdown of unit 5 of Nuevitas, in Camagüey, which, according to the Electric Union has contributed to the deficit being “higher than planned.” However, the deficit on Saturday, which peaked at 1,678 MW, remains scandalous.
The company also explained that there are 79 MW affected by the output of electric generation engines due to lack of diesel or fuel oil, in addition to another 77 generators for the same reason.
This year, the capital repair of the largest power plant on the Island, the Antonio Guiteras de Matanzas, has also been scheduled. According to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, the intervention could last between eight and ten months.
“The Guiteras rotors have not worked since that breakdown in 2004. So do the math. Since 2004 it should have had two capital repairs, and not one was done,” he said weeks ago about the calamitous state of the only thermoelectric plant of French technology, which is also the one with the most power in the country.
Other interventions are also planned, for about six months, in East Havana 2, Santa Cruz del Norte (Mayabeque), and in Rent 5, Santiago de Cuba. In addition, Felton 2, lost “completely” after the fire of 2022, has begun its comprehensive rehabilitation, “a gigantic engineering project” that will last two years. The clock began running long ago, although the minister did not clarify when.
With only two of the eight Turkish patanas [floating power plants] generating power in its waters and its largest plant out of service, the Government is betting everything on the solar parks that it has begun to build throughout the country, with financial and technical support from China.
Translated by Regina Anavy
Note to readers: Technical issues are preventing the normal formatting of this article’s image and text.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.