Collapse of the National Electric System causes breakdown at Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant.

The total disconnections of the national electroenergetic system that occurred on Friday at noon and Saturday morning ended up causing a significant breakdown of Unit 3 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric power plant in Cienfuegos.

This was explained for the PerlavisionTV channel by José Osvaldo González Rodríguez, general director of the Cienfuegos Thermoelectric Company, who attributed the breakdown of the turbine that took them out of service to the "instability in the system."

"When the system collapses, our unit, which was synchronized, abruptly loses its operational parameters and ends up working against the national electrical system. It is what is often said that the system crushes the unit," explained the executive.

According to González Rodríguez, after the disconnection, it was identified that the Unit had experienced a "loss of speed." He also stated that "until Monday afternoon we will not be able to stop the turbine" for its repair.

At the moment, the workers at the CTE in Cienfuegos are carrying out "preparatory actions so that, when the time comes, we can immediately start uncovering bearing supports, accessing the areas we need to inspect" and assessing the steps that will need to be taken afterwards, when the cooling process ends (which lasts about 100 hours).

The confusing explanation from the executive makes one thing clear: access to the affected area will begin on Monday to identify the damages. From then on, the timelines for the power plant to become operational again are unknown.

On Monday, October 14, the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant disconnected from the National Electric System (SEN) at 10:00 PM in a "scheduled" manner, according to the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) on its social media.

Its departure left a complex landscape in electricity generation, and from then on, the SEN began to lose generating capacity, and blackouts increased even more in frequency and duration.

Despite the fact that the state-owned company led by Alfredo López Valdés assured that it is a "scheduled maintenance," it is true that it reported the alleged "scheduled disconnection" 15 hours after it occurred. The objective, according to the UNE, was to "carry out the necessary and planned maintenance in block 4."

With Unit 4 under maintenance and Unit 3 out of order after the widespread collapse of the SEN, the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant is now in a delicate situation, which further complicates the recovery of the system.

The latest report issued by the authorities indicated that "in the central part there is a microsystem that guarantees a level of coverage and its function is to reach Energás Varadero so that it can start up and supply power to the CTE Guiteras."

In the "central subsystem," the startup of unit 5 in Nuevitas is still awaited, but nothing is said about the CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.

At the time of writing this note, it seems that the thermoelectric plants in the country remain disconnected or in the process of starting up, but without supplying energy to the SEN.