The Antonio Guiteras Thermal Power Plant (CTE) was reconnected to the National Electric System (SEN) early this Friday, after being out of service since Sunday due to a malfunction.
According to a brief note published by the Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) this morning, the synchronization occurred at 2:45 a.m., bringing the country's main generating plant back online to the national grid.
Despite the return of Guiteras, the forecast for power outages remains high
More than just good news, the return of the Guiteras to the SEN has been met by Cubans with skepticism and widespread distress.
Despite the return of the CTE Guiteras, the volume of impact from generation deficits remains significant, although fewer blackouts are expected compared to the previous day.
This Thursday, the Electric Union reported 1,848 megawatts of outages during peak hours, and for this Friday, with the plant back in operation, the figure decreases to 1,460 MW.
However, the forecast for impacts remains extremely high, directly linked to the fuel shortage and the number of thermoelectric units out of service, whether due to maintenance or breakdowns.
The Cuban population continues to face prolonged electrical outages amid growing discontent over the instability of the service and uncertainty about how long the Matanzas unit will remain operational, which has experienced frequent shutdowns in recent years.
Chronicle of an Announced Synchronization, but How Long Will It Last?
Hours before the entry into the National Electricity System (SEN) of the Guiteras plant, the official journalist José Miguel Solís had predicted the imminent return to operations of the plant in Matanzas, stating that with the boiler being fired up during the night, the "countdown" for its synchronization with the SEN would begin.
The engineer Rubén Campos Olmos explained that the repair work was particularly complex because the damaged pipes were located in an area that was difficult to access.
The executive indicated that, nevertheless, the planned technical objectives were achieved, including the replacement, welding, and testing of the damaged sections, which will allow for more efficient generation and a significant reduction in water consumption.
Campos Olmos also emphasized that, simultaneously, corrective actions were taken on multiple fronts, with the aim of eliminating operational risks and ensuring greater stability in the unit's functioning. He specified that this represents a significant challenge, given the obsolescence of the block, which has gone 16 years without receiving major maintenance.
According to the official source, despite its technical limitations, the Antonio Guiteras CTE maintains the lowest specific fuel consumption among all power plants of its kind in Cuba.
In addition, the use of national oil makes it the plant with the lowest generation cost per megawatt in the country, surpassing 20 million tons of crude processed since its inception in the late 1990s.
La Guiteras is the largest unified block in the country, with a generation capacity exceeding 200 megawatts, so its outage represents a significant loss for the national electrical system.
The thermal power plant in Matanzas suffered a significant breakdown early last Sunday, and since then it has been reported that it would remain out of service for a minimum of 72 hours, a forecast that reality ended up exceeding.
The question now is, how long will it last?
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