Cuba expects dark weekend as eight thermal power plants, including Felton 1, fail

There are eight Thermoelectric Out of service Cuba starts on Saturday, August 10Unit 1 of the Felton Thermal Power Plant in Holguin was shut down due to an “automatic fault,” according to state reports. Electrical Alliance (one).

Felton 1, which underwent extensive maintenance before the summer, is one of the island’s main energy generators, producing more than 200 megawatts, along with Antonio Guiteras, another major Cuban producer from Matanzas.

The day of the technical intervention that took place last May, They will be seen as torture by the Cubans: In addition to the high temperatures of those weeks, as many as nine power plants stopped operating at the same time, causing power outages of more than 20 hours in several areas.

According to UNE official statement, The power outage occurred at 8:31 am last Friday due to insufficient power generation.with a maximum impact of 610MW at 8:50 p.m.

But the situation began to deteriorate at 11:21 p.m., when Felton 1 took off, “causing impacts to continue throughout the morning,” the report states.

UNE predicts an average impact of 650MW on Saturdayaccounting for about 20% of the island’s consumption.

In addition to Felton units 1 and 2, which were out of service due to a malfunction, Mariel thermal power plant unit 8, Santa Cruz del Norte unit 2, Cienfuegos power plant unit 4, Nuevitas unit 5, and Renté units 5 and 6, in Santiago de Cuba.

With this list of thermal power plants that are not providing services, They will add 231 MW to the thermal power deficit and we have to add 361 MW from 68 non-operating power plants Due to lack of fuel, 592MW of power was shut down.

Although UNE expects at least two damaged thermal power units to be put into operation on Saturday, which will bring the power system’s generation capacity to 2,230MW, the deficit will rise to 840MW during peak power hours, considering that the maximum demand is 3,000MW. The figure is one of the highest reported since July last year.

This panorama is dismantled again The authorities made a promise at the beginning of the year when they guaranteed Summer power outages will be reduced This is thanks to its maintenance strategy for thermal power plants, most of which have been deteriorating due to years of overuse and accumulated ageing.

In mid-June, Jorge Piñón, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas, said: Cuban daily warns “Cuba’s nuclear power plants are beyond their useful life, having been in use for more than 35 years. That’s why we always say there are no short-term patch solutions. A total recapitalization of the system is the only solution, and Cuba doesn’t have what you need: time (three to five years) and money (five to eight billion dollars).”