14ymedio, Havana, 16 February 2023 — The fragility of the Cuban electrical system was evidenced once again. Now “an electrical failure in the use of the plant” has left the Antonio Guiteras de Matanzas Thermoelectric Power Plant out of service since shortly after noon this Thursday. According to a brief statement from the Unión Eléctrica that caused annoyance among users, it was stressed that work was being done on the solution.
With the failure in Antonio Guiteras, there are already five thermoelectric plants that have “faults.” The others are units 6 and 7 of CTE Mariel, unit 4 of CTE Nuevitas, units 1 and 2 of Felton, and units 4 and 6 of the CTE Renté, which are “under maintenance.”
For peak hours, the Unión Eléctrica confirmed the entry of unit 2 of Energas Boca de Jaruco, the completion of unit 6 of this same plant, the entry of unit 4 of Energas Varadero, but these additions will provide only 110 megawatts (MW) of power.
With this forecast, an availability of 2,588 MW and a maximum demand of 2,720 MW are estimated for the peak hour, for a deficit of 132 MW, so if the conditions forecast are maintained, more blackouts will occur throughout the Island.
Six days earlier, the Antonio Guiteras power plant had been synchronized with the National Electric System, which together with unit 5 of the Máximo Gómez CTE, led the Electric Unit to proclaim that there would be “affects due to capacity deficit in generation.”
This new failure comes 14 days after the eighth Turkish floating plant, the Suheyla Sultan, with a capacity of 240 MW, arrived in Cuba. This coincided with the increase in blackouts of up to six hours in various regions of the Island.
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