Block one of the Lidio Ramón Pérez thermoelectric power plant in Felton, Holguín province, is trying to rejoin the National Electric System after repairing a crack and addressing more than a hundred anomalies detected during recovery work.
Workers and specialists from the facility have repaired a leak in the fifth pipe of the back wall of the dome, one of the areas considered most complex within the critical path of the repairs that have kept unit one offline since Tuesday, reported this Saturday the Cuban News Agency.
Víctor Hugo González Quiala, the technical director of the plant, informed journalist Emilio Rodríguez from Radio Mayarí that the work in the dome area was scheduled to be completed this Friday.
If the unit successfully passes the scheduled hydraulic test on Sunday, it will be ready to synchronize again with the SEN.
According to González, "the staff focused their efforts on resolving more than a hundred anomalies detected in the turbo group."
Among the actions taken were the recovery of the high heaters to increase the machine's efficiency and attention to the vent of the deaerator, with an emphasis on the feed tank, the source pointed out.
Workers from the plant itself, from the Electrical Central Maintenance Company, and from ECI-3 participated in the tasks, which included the slag removal from the boiler and the cleaning of reheater number one.
A crack located in the upper area of the boiler, very close to the dome, had increased water consumption in the previous days and forced a reduction in energy output, before the authorities decided to halt the unit to carry out repairs, the information noted.
González stated that the actions were carried out with the utmost rigor to ensure the availability and reliability of the unit when it returns to electricity generation.
The power plant has its Unit Two out of service, affected by a fire that occurred at the beginning of the startup process after maintenance that was expected to add around 220 megawatts to the national electric grid during the summer of 2022. The government announced in November 2024 that its rehabilitation would not be completed before the end of 2027 or early 2028.
The CTE Lidio Ramón Pérez in Felton is considered one of the most efficient in Cuba.
With both Felton units out of service, the SEN is operating at its limit. This Sunday, the available generation stands at only 1,032 MW compared to a predicted shortfall of 2,298 MW, according to the blackout tracking in Cuba. In Holguín, some circuits experienced interruptions of up to 19 hours this Sunday.
Unit 1 of Felton has been at the center of a story marked by frequent departures and reintegrations throughout the year. In July, its departure from the system triggered a new collapse of the SEN, and in May, it left the grid just a few hours after synchronizing.
Cuba has recorded at least seven complete collapses of the national electric system so far in 2026, with blackouts in many areas exceeding 20 hours a day, leading to protests in neighborhoods of Havana and other cities.
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