The “unexpected departure” of Unit 1 of the Central thermoelectric (CTE) Lidio Ramón Pérez, from Felton, in Holguín, again put in check the availability of electric power in Cuba on Monday, so the blackouts.
According to a informative note of the state Electric Union, The fault was detected in the plant’s boiler and began to affect the electrical service due to a lack of capacity. starting at 5:38AM, after power outages were extended on Sunday night due to what the authorities described as “a sharp increase in demand”.
Unit 1 of Felton, the plant with the largest generation capacity in Cuba, it had only entered service last weekafter the technicians corrected a crack in a pipe inside the boiler, a fault caused by cleaning during a previous maintenance.
In Felton, unit 2, which the authorities said would come into service from the first days of July, is still under repair. Now the plant does not produce energy, which will be noticed immediately and will hit eastern Cuba in a special way.
The new break, warned the Electric Union, will make the blackouts last “all day”since a deficit of 450MW is estimated, which could decrease somewhat at night, when units 4 and 5 of the Antonio Maceo Thermoelectric Plant, in Santiago de Cuba, with 50 and 90MW respectively, are to come into operation, and 126MW are used in motors. diesel.
According to the UNE, “an availability of 2,451 MW and a maximum demand of 2,850 MW are estimated for peak hours, for a deficit of 399 MW, so if the forecast conditions are maintained, an affectation of 470 MW is forecast at peak”.
In addition to Felton’s unit, Units 6, 7 and 8 of the Máximo Gómez, the Otto Parellada unit, unit 4 of the Diez de Octubre, as well as units 4 and 5 of the Antonio Maceo remain out of service due to breakdown.which should be incorporated during the day.
Unit 5 of the Diez de Octubre and unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez are under maintenance, while the limitations in thermal generation (408MW) are maintained and in distributed generation, 1,076MW are not available due to a breakdown and are in maintenance 394MW.