Deficit

Cubans are experiencing another day of blackouts this Sunday, with more than 600 megawatts (MW) of deficit as predicted by the Electrical Union (UNE). The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant (CTE), located in Matanzas, remains out of service and the other generating plants also accumulate a string of breakdowns or shutdowns for maintenance.

“For the peak hour, an availability of 2,282 MW and a maximum demand of 2,900 MW is estimated, for a deficit of 618 MW, so if the expected conditions continue, an impact of 688 MW is forecast during this time,” he published in UNE’s Facebook account and Internet users have not taken long to fill the comments area with complaints and ridicule.

Last Sunday, CTE Guiteras, the largest generator on the Island, had suffered a boiler breakage, the second of this type in just a week, which disconnected it from the National Electric System (SEN). In a statement, its managers assured that they had to wait for the usual cooling process in that area to identify the problem and its magnitude, but so far the fault has not been resolved.

Without barely sleeping a wink, “because of the heat and the mosquitoes,” Ismael had to return this Sunday to the task of carrying the goods and fears that when he returns to his home “the outlook will be just as dark.”

“Yesterday I had a very hard day at work because I had to go to the city several times,” he tells 14 intervene Ismael, a 23-year-old young man who this Saturday had to help his father with the transportation of some agricultural products from Jatibonico to the provincial capital. “Our car broke down on one of those trips and we spent hours lying on the road. When we got home: blackout for most of the morning,” he laments.

Without barely sleeping a wink, “because of the heat and the mosquitoes,” Ismael had to return this Sunday to the task of carrying the goods and fears that when he returns to his home “the outlook will be just as dark.” The provinces and municipalities are the most affected by power outages that severely impact daily tasks, from cooking to resting.

In Carlos Rojas, Matanzas, activist Annia Zamora describes the blackouts suffered in that community as “intense” and, before each day-to-day task, she states that it can only be done if the Electrical Union “allows it.” Mobile phone towers also stop working when the electricity is cut off, so “the internet connection disappears for long hours,” she explains to this newspaper.

The CTEs of Mariel and Felton each have one generation unit out of service, while unit 6 of Energías Boca de Jaruco, unit 5 of Renté and unit 3 of Santa Cruz are under maintenance, as detailed by the UNE in its Sunday section that by mid-morning had already accumulated dozens of comments, all negative.

“When are they going to sell candles and torches in the winery? Given the circumstances, they should prioritize that,” said an Internet user who identified himself as Juan Valdés ironically, while Yoana Polanco complained that in her town of Manatí, in Las Tunas, they suffered a power outage this Saturday from five in the afternoon until nine at night, and then having a blackout again starting at four in the morning this Sunday: “How long is this going to last?” he asked. , fed up, this Cuban.

Among the bitter criticisms published this Sunday, UNE clients have recalled that Guiteras functioned normally during the G-77 plus China Summit, held in Havana in the middle of this month.

The target of popular annoyance is CTE Guiteras, who has been entering and leaving the SEN for months due to various problems. At the end of last August the plant suffered another shutdown, on that occasion due to “overconsumption of water”, an excess that caused breakages and effects on electricity generation.

A few weeks before, at the beginning of June, and when it had not even been synchronized to the SEN for 72 hours after a long maintenance, the Guiteras was disconnected again, on that occasion due to problems in the boiler, as its managers explained to the official press.

Only two months before that mishap, in April of this year, after a collapse inside the chimney, two workers died and two others were injured. The employees were trapped when a seven-meter-high wall or “partition” collapsed on them while they were cleaning up the soot.

Among the bitter criticisms published this Sunday, UNE clients have recalled that Guiteras functioned normally during the G-77 plus China Summit, held in Havana in the middle of this month. “The guests left and we returned to the blackouts, it seems that Guiteras prefers people with hard currency,” one Internet user sarcastically summarized.

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