The Electric Union (UNE) of Cuba reported this Tuesday that, at 2:44 PM, the synchronization of the National Electric System (SEN) was achieved for the first time since the collapse that left much of the country without electricity supply last Friday.
“At 2:44 PM National Electric System synchronized,” the entity indicated in a brief message posted on its Facebook profile.
This fact marks a crucial step in the recovery of the service, after days of interruptions that severely affected the population and various economic sectors.
The official portal Cubadebate shared on the social network X a chart showing the recovery of the SEN across the country, highlighting that the western and central regions have a better situation compared to the eastern part of the island.
The provinces of Pinar del Río, Mayabeque, Artemisa, and Havana show a recovery of over 95%, while from Matanzas to Camagüey the progress is between 40% and 60%.
On the other hand, Las Tunas and Holguín show a recovery of over 90% of their electrical infrastructure, while in Granma the percentage is between 40% and 60%.
The most critical situation is recorded in Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, where the graph shared by the news portal does not specify the level of recovery.
Hours after the start-up of generating unit No. 3 of the Antonio Maceo Thermoelectric Power Plant, also known as Rente, in Santiago de Cuba, a malfunction occurred that led to the collapse of the system, resulting in the failure of a microsystem that connected the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, leaving them without electric service.
Last Sunday, after a new disconnection from the SEN, the Electric Union announced a temporary strategy for service recovery, dividing the electrical supply into several independent systems by regions.
This measure aimed to ensure the stability of the rest of the system in the face of possible future failures, according to journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso on Facebook on Monday morning, citing the state entity.
At dawn this Tuesday, the Ministry of Energy and Mines indicated that in the UNE report at 6:00 am (local time), 70.89% of customers in Cuba already had electrical service.
The agency indicated on social media X that today it would continue "the strengthening of the established systems and the expansion of electrical coverage in the country."
The official newspaper Granma presented the recovery of the system as an achievement on Tuesday and noted that, after the collapse of the SEN, "there were breakdowns at the CTE Antonio Maceo, in Santiago de Cuba, with prospects for reintroduction today (Tuesday)."
In addition, he mentioned that "maintenance has been carried out on a unit of the CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in Cienfuegos, and a machine in Santa Cruz del Norte, whose process will extend over about six months."
The news portal highlighted that, on the other hand, Energas reported the breakdown of a unit in Varadero, although it announced that it plans to return on the next day 23, with 45 MW.
However, he also acknowledged that there will soon be a need to carry out light maintenance on the thermal power plants, Antonio Guiteras in Matanzas and Lidio Ramón Pérez in Felton.
Finally, the spokesperson for the government cited Susana Aulet, a retired specialist from the National Cargo Office of UNE, who explained that restoring total electrical system failures takes many days because electricity is needed to generate electricity.
He pointed out that in the case of Cuba, due to the absence of neighboring countries at the borders that can supply electricity, it is necessary to start from the small microsystems that are being synchronized with each other through the networks, to give them the needed robustness.
"An isolated microsystem is very vulnerable, and any event, no matter how small –such as increased demand, a short circuit in the network, etc.– can cause it to collapse, and then everything has to start all over again," he said.
However, what the specialist forgot to mention is that for decades, Cuba's electrical infrastructure has operated without receiving adequate maintenance and without significant modernizations.
Although the government insists on pointing to external factors such as the United States embargo, the reality is that the problems stem from failed internal decisions and poor planning.
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