The official page "Mi Guantánamo" shared images this Sunday of one of the new Community Load and Service Centers in the city, a network of facilities designed for the population to cook food and charge devices during the prolonged blackouts affecting the province.
The photos show the center located at the corner of Martí and Crombet streets, fully equipped with horizontal freezers, a two-door refrigerator, rice cookers, and electric pressure cookers installed on stainless steel shelves.
The venue also features a numbered station for charging mobile phones with at least 30 identifiable compartments, as well as cables and power strips.
Outside, a sign designates the facility as a Community Center for Charging and Services and includes specific signage for charging electric motorcycles using solar energy.
The project is part of a provincial plan that includes the construction of around twenty of these centers in the city of Guantánamo, with two facilities for each Popular Council and an investment of nearly 25 million pesos, according to reported in May by the official newspaper Granma.
According to that source, each center will have about 30 kilowatts of solar panels and 60 kilowatts of battery storage.
In addition to charging phones, portable stations, scooters, and electric tricycles, they will provide cooking spaces equipped with up to 10 rice cookers and 10 multipurpose devices, as well as television service. The investment combines resources from state-owned enterprises and private small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes).
The authorities presented the program as a response to the prolonged blackouts caused by the fuel deficit, while announcing that the model will gradually expand to the other municipalities of the province and will be complemented by the installation of new "solineras" for electric vehicles.
The creation of these centers reflects the impact of the energy crisis in Guantánamo, a province that relies on a single 110-kilovolt power line from Santiago de Cuba for its electricity supply, where power outages have become a part of the daily routine for the population.
That line failed on June 11, leaving the entire province without service. The Electric Company then acknowledged eight damaged transformers with no available replacements.
The political leadership of Guantánamo called this Saturday to reduce the number of citizen complaints about the electrical service, while the province records over 150 daily complaints and has endured months of blackouts that have left residents without electricity for up to 33 hours.
The phenomenon of energy service stations powered by solar panels, commonly known as "solineras" and independent of the National Electric System, has spread throughout Cuba.
Santa Clara was a pioneer with the country's first installation in April, while announcing the upcoming opening of its third solar center in the Sandino neighborhood, offering some of its services for free.
In Holguín, however, controversy recently arose regarding the rates ranging from 50 to 500 Cuban pesos per hour at its first beach bar, El Girasol.
Matanzas plans to establish nine collective charging points throughout the province, and it was also announced that one of these facilities will open in the heart of El Vedado in the capital.
The National Electric System has experienced eight total blackouts in 18 months and is registering significant generation deficits, as well as outages lasting over 24 continuous hours. This is a direct consequence of decades of disinvestment and the suspension of Venezuelan oil shipments since January of this year.
Related videos:
Filed under: