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Unit number 6 of the "Diez de Octubre" thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas, Camagüey, was disconnected again from the national electric power system due to another malfunction detected in its cooling system.
This was reported on Friday on their social media by the Cuban Electric Union (UNE), indicating that "repair work on a seawater pipeline leak in block number 6 has been underway since early hours."
According to the state company, the leak detected in a pipe of the cooling system caused the "shutdown of this unit around 1:00 a.m. this morning [Friday]."
He also stated that "other maintenance work is being carried out in a timely manner" and that the affected block was expected to be back in service during the "late afternoon or evening" on Friday.
This Saturday, in its daily report to the National Electric System (SEN), the company headed by Alfredo López Valdés did not include Unit 6 of Nuevitas among those that are out of service or under maintenance. It also did not provide any updates regarding its synchronization to the SEN or the information about the detected leak.
"Transparency" is glaringly absent in the statements from the state-owned socialist company, further undermining the already limited credibility of its data and claims.
After years of governance under the so-called "continuity" and its communication policy, led by a weary and increasingly mediocre Ideological Department of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), the Cuban people no longer know whether the inhumane blackouts inflicted upon them by their rulers are due to fuel shortages or the collapse of the national electrical infrastructure.
In mid-May, Unit 6 of Nuevitas went offline less than 24 hours after synchronizing with the National Electric System (SEN) and following a 77-day scheduled maintenance shutdown that, according to the official press, “stood out for its preparation, planning, control, and efficient use of available resources.”
"It is normal for the machine to need to be taken out at some point to correct any parameters that do not show satisfactory performance according to what was planned. This happens not only in Cuba, but in any country in the world," explained a UNE executive days later.
The Cuban regime aims for the population to consider it "normal" for a thermoelectric plant to have leaks in the pipes after 77 days of maintenance, during which "highly complex and precise procedures" were applied. A failure that requires a shut-down might be considered normal, but two or three failures in such a short period indicate that the quality of the work was not optimal, or that the Nuevitas power plant has reached the end of its useful life.
To make matters worse for the UNE, this Saturday it reported that the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas was out of service for approximately 30 hours due to an oil leak in the generator's lubrication system.
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