[News] Cuba advances in electrical power restoration: Western zone in process of reconnection

[Anti-Imperialist News]

telesurenglish.net
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/cuba-western-zone-in-process-of-reconnection/>
Cuba advances in electrical power restoration: Western zone in process of
reconnection
------------------------------

President Miguel Diaz-Canel has been at the forefront of the system
recovery process alongside electrical technicians. (Photo: X account
@DiazCanelB).
------------------------------

October 20, 2024
The process has already begun in the western zone once the Antonio Guiteras
thermoelectric plant is put into service.

According to Lázaro Guerra Hernández, director of electricity of the
Ministry of Energy and Mines, the western zone
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/cuba-sustains-efforts-to-restore-electric-power/>
of the country, including Havana, Mayabeque, Artemisa, and Pinar del Río, *was
the most affected after the disconnection *of unit 1 of the Santa Cruz del
Norte thermoelectric plant at 10:15 PM the previous day.

Guerra Hernández explained: “It was not possible to sustain the microsystem
of the western zone, and it completely collapsed. We are concentrating our
efforts on the start-up of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, which
will serve as a base to restore the western zone.”

The official explained that *a system has already been interconnected from
Matanzas to Holguín*, although this does not mean that there is electricity
in the entire central-eastern region. “We have a unit in service in
Nuevitas, Varadero gas, and distributed generation in several places,” he
added.

The current strategy is to link the western zone with the system already
established in the center and east of the country. “We are not going to
create microsystems in the western zone, but rather from the already
established system we are going to link up and continue increasing
capacity,” explained Guerra Hernández.

Regarding the priorities in restoring the service, the director clarified
that first the lines necessary to reach the generating units are energized,
which benefits the circuits on that route. Subsequently, sensitive circuits
such as hospitals and water supply systems are prioritized.

Guerra Hernández emphasized that an exact time cannot be given for the
complete restoration: “It would be irresponsible to do so. What I can say
is that we have already begun the process in the western zone once we have
the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in service.”

The official assured that the lack of fuel is not currently the main cause
of the problems, but rather the unavailability of some generating units.

Autor: MFD-teleSUR

_____________________________
telesurenglish.net
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/cuba-power-outages-are-prolonged-due-to-delays-in-the-energy-recovery-process/>
Cuba:
Power Outages Are Prolonged Due to Delays in the Energy Recovery Process
------------------------------

A Cuban bookstore serves its customers in the midst of the blackout, Oct.
2024. X/ @xeunoticias
------------------------------

October 19, 2024
The Caribbean nation is unable to purchase fuel or modernize its electrical
machinery due to the U.S. blockade.

On Saturday, Cuba once again experienced a total power outage after the
recovery process of the National Electric System (SEN), initiated the day
before following a blackout caused by a failure at a thermoelectric plant,
failed.

*RELATED: *

*Venezuela Expresses Unconditional Solidarity with Cuba Amid Energy Crisis
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/venezuela-expresses-unconditional-solidarity-with-cuba-amid-energy-crisis/>*

The process of re-energizing the SEN was then initiated, gradually
restoring power to certain areas of the country with the goal of expanding
and connecting them to eventually reach the thermoelectric plants and
restart them. However, a new total disconnection thwarted the progress that
had been made.

“Today at 6:15 a.m., the National Electrical System experienced a total
disconnection. The Electric Union is working on restoring it,” the
state-owned Electric Union (UNE) reported on social media.

On Friday morning, the SEN collapsed due to a failure at the Guiteras
thermoelectric plant, one of the country’s main power generators. This
caused a complete blackout across the country. The situation had already
been labeled as an “energy emergency,” as President Miguel Diaz-Canel had
said on Thursday.

This week, the supply of electricity has been reduced by up to 50 percent
on some days. As a result, authorities halted all non-essential state labor
activities starting Friday, including ministries and schools. Diaz-Canel
also stated that “there will be no rest” until electric service on the
island is restored and emphasized that the situation is “tense and complex.”

Due to the U.S. blockade, which restricts the influx of foreign currency to
Cuba, the SEN is in a very precarious state because of fuel shortages and
frequent failures in thermoelectric plants, which have been operating
non-stop for over four decades.

Power outages have been common for several years, but since the end of
August, the situation has worsened, reaching levels similar to the worst
moments, such as in 2021 and 2022.

In recent years, the Cuban government has rented several floating power
plants to alleviate the lack of generating capacity. Frequent blackouts are
damaging Cuba’s economy, which contracted by 1.9 percent in 2023 and is
still below the levels of 2019.

*teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE*

EN ESTA NOTA:

Comments
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20241020/7e1c73c3/attachment.htm>