Cuba’s Most Important Power Plant to Close for Six Months
announced for later this year and raises fear of the worst
This Saturday, nine of the 16 generating units installed in the seven thermoelectric plants of the country are out of service due to breakdowns or maintenance
HAVANA TIMES – The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant, considered the cornerstone of the national electrical system (SEN), will be out of service at the end of the year for six months to undergo major maintenance, according to the Round Table program this Thursday. The news came amid an energy crisis that has already caused five nationwide blackouts in less than a year and daily scheduled outages that in many places exceed 20 hours without electricity.
This Saturday, nine of the 16 generating units installed in the seven thermoelectric plants still operating in the country are shut down for breakdowns or maintenance. These include units 3 and 4 in Cienfuegos, 3 and 5 in Rente (Santiago de Cuba), 1 and 2 in Felton, 5 and 8 in Mariel, and 2 in Santa Cruz del Norte.
The general director of the State Electric Company (UNE), Alfredo Lopez Valdes, detailed that the repair plan will cover 18 key aspects of the plant’s boiler and turbine. The reheater—a critical piece with 15 kilometers of piping that carries steam and gases—will be completely replaced, burners and igniters will be renewed, pumps and air ducts will be changed, a chemical wash will be performed to prevent corrosion, and new high-pressure heaters will be incorporated.
The plant, located in Matanzas and built in 1988 with French technology, is the largest single-unit block in the country, with an installed capacity of 330 megawatts (MW). However, due to the lack of maintenance, it has not operated at full power for years. Its shutdown for six months represents a direct blow to the fragile national grid. “It doesn’t mean we’ll have a new boiler, but we will have equipment in better condition to stabilize the system,” Lopez assured.
The problem is what will happen in the meantime. The National Electric System is already reporting generation deficits approaching 2,000 MW at peak demand hours, and the company has warned that this Saturday 55% of the country will experience simultaneous blackouts in the late afternoon and evening. The announced deficit for this Saturday is 1,868 MW during peak hours. On Friday, the maximum shortfall reached 1,939 MW at 8:40 pm, higher than planned, due to new unexpected outages.
The Electric Company says it will try to cover the gap with other thermoelectric plants and generator groups of the so-called “distributed generation,” but these units are smaller, less efficient, and also face maintenance problems and shortages of spare parts. In addition, many of those mini-plants are out of service due to lack of diesel or fuel oil.
The situation is further complicated by the impact of rainfall, which reduces the productivity of the 30 new solar parks installed in the country. Under optimal conditions, during peak sunlight hours, these facilities have a capacity of 654 MW and can produce up to 3,270 megawatt hours per day. According to the latest UNE report, on September 12 the 30 solar parks reached a maximum output of 523 MW and delivered 2,323 MWh.
The official press hailed as a historic achievement the synchronization of solar parks with distributed generation in Granma and Sancti Spíritus but avoided mentioning that most of the country’s photovoltaic plants are not designed to operate autonomously when the SEN collapses. The test “worked,” admitted officials, although it was carried out with a limited number of inverters and under controlled conditions.
The energy crisis has dragged on for more than a decade but has worsened in the last five years due to lack of investment and the age of the thermoelectric plants, most of which are over 40 years old. The “lack of hard currency” has prevented proper maintenance, leading to chain breakdowns and repeated collapses of the electrical system.
Independent experts estimate that Cuba would need between 8 and 10 billion dollars to modernize its energy infrastructure. A sum the Government does not have because it has devoted enormous resources to hotel construction despite the steep decline in tourism, while the country is undergoing an unprecedented economic crisis, with an 11% contraction of national production in the past five years.
The Government insists that the maintenance of the Guiteras plant is essential to guarantee the future stability of the system and calls on the population for “understanding and discipline” in the coming months. However, discontent is growing throughout the country and is manifesting itself on social media, with even more intensity than in the days leading up to the massive protests of July 11, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting “freedom” in several cities.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.