The shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant in Cuba this Tuesday - which the UNE now prefers to refer to as the CTE Matanzas - to "carry out essential work on the boiler," has led to the anticipated worsening of the generation deficit on the island.
Yesterday, a peak of 1,514 MW was affected, which is slightly lower than the forecasted 1,594 MW.
The situation isn't improving today, as the forecast indicates 1,541 MW of outages during peak hours and a very high daytime impact of 1,200 MW.
This Monday, service was disrupted due to a shortfall in generation capacity throughout the day, and the service remained affected during the early hours of today.
At 7:00 a.m., the availability of the National Electric System (SEN) was 1,400 MW, while the demand was 2,350 MW, with a generation deficit affecting 901 MW.
Additionally, 90 MW remain affected in the province of Artemisa due to damage in the electrical networks caused by the impact of Hurricane Rafael.
Guiteras: Breakdown or maintenance?
Although the Unión Eléctrica (UNE) announced on Tuesday the shutdown of the CTE Matanzas unit "to carry out urgent work on the boiler," suggesting that it was maintenance, on Wednesday the entity listed the Matanzas thermoelectric plant among those out of service.
"Five thermoelectric units are out of service: unit 5 of the Mariel Thermoelectric Power Plant, unit 1 of the Santa Cruz Thermoelectric Power Plant, the unit from the Matanzas Thermoelectric Power Plant, unit 2 of the Felton Thermoelectric Power Plant, and unit 3 of the Renté Thermoelectric Power Plant," states the UNE bulletin.
Four others would be under maintenance: unit 2 of the CTE Santa Cruz, units 3 and 4 of the CTE Cienfuegos, and unit 5 of the CTE Renté.
Currently, a total of nine thermoelectric units are out of service in Cuba, a number that has been steadily increasing in recent months.
In the other data that UNE typically shares as part of the tragic math that adds and subtracts megawatts:
"The limitations in thermal generation are 251 MW. There are 48 distributed generation plants out of service due to fuel, totaling 197 MW, along with the Santiago de Cuba plant (67 MW), 5 engines at the Regla plant (45 MW), and 5 engines at the Melones plant (90 MW), resulting in a total affected by this issue of 399 MW."
For today's peak hours, it is estimated that Unit 3 of the Renté CTE will come online with 70 MW (currently in the startup process); five engines from the Regla platform will enter service with 45 MW; two engines from the Santiago de Cuba platform will contribute 24 MW; and another five engines from the Melones platform will add 90 MW.
With this forecast, a capacity of 1,629 MW is expected during peak hours, with a maximum demand of 3,100 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,471 MW.
If the "chaotic" conditions described persist, a peak impact of 1,541 MW is anticipated.
As of the publication of this note, no official from the Electric Union or the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) had appeared on national television to explain the unexplainable: the endless crisis of the Cuban National Electric System.
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