The province of Las Tunas has eight completed photovoltaic solar parks with a theoretical installed capacity of 64.8 megawatts, but this infrastructure barely provides an average of two and a half hours of daily electricity to its municipalities, acknowledged the director of the local Electric Company.
"We have ensured, at least with the available energy, up to an average of two and a half hours during the day in the municipalities," stated Anisley Santiesteban Velázquez, general director of the Electric Company of Las Tunas, in an interview published on Thursday by the official newspaper 26.
The figure contrasts with the triumphalist tone of the state media, which presents the province as "a benchmark in the energy transition in Cuba."
The reality is that, despite the solar expansion, the residents of Tuners continue to face blackouts that last for most of the day, in the context of a national electricity crisis with generation deficits that have exceeded 2,300 MW this year.
The larger parks are Nueva Línea, in Puerto Padre; the 220 kV Substation in the municipal capital; and the one in Veguita, which is still awaiting completion. The smaller ones, with capacities of 2.2, 4.4, and 5 MW, are located in Manatí, Puerto Padre, Blanca Rosa, and Punta Brava.
When Veguita is ready, the provincial capacity could rise to nearly 85 MW, although its completion depends on the Granma Renewable Energy Sources Company.
In January, the seven solar parks synchronized to the National Electric System contributed a total of 53 MW; the eighth (located in Punta Brava, in the municipality of Amancio) raised that theoretical capacity to the current 64.8 MW.
In light of the scarcity, the Electric Company has established protection schedules for essential services. Saturdays are allocated nearly six hours to the municipality of Jobabo for water pumping from Birama. Sundays, the TK47 circuit in Puerto Padre receives between five and seven hours to supply the La Micro area.
On Tuesdays, pumping is supported in Vázquez, also benefiting Manatí and Puerto Padre. The three main pumping stations of the provincial capital—Piedra Hueca, Rincón, and Cayojo—have solar coverage 24 hours a day, the source indicated.
"Relatively every day, there is an important level of protection that aligns not only with water but also with some health services in the municipalities," noted Santiesteban.
The executive also explained the technical limitations of solar energy during system downtimes. "Clouds cause significant fluctuations. A cloud passes, and the power drops rapidly; the cloud moves on, and the power goes back up. These fluctuations create instability in the system, and consequently, lead to its failure," he explained. To mitigate this, the inverters are limited to one MW each, which achieves a stable output of seven MW per park.
The municipalities in the south, Jobabo, Colombia, and Amancio, often experience a lack of coverage during those events. The Punta Brava park has a 1 MW battery that, once operational, could ensure a microgrid for the main circuit of Amancio, something that guarantees communications, water pumping, and the local hospital, the executive specified.
In parallel, the province is progressing on the La Herradura Uno wind farm, where the installation of 22 wind turbines with a maximum capacity of 34 MW began this year after more than a decade of delays since its initial announcement in 2012.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, promised at the end of April that the work would be completed in 2026.
Santiesteban also referred to the aspiration to replicate in Las Tunas the daytime territorial self-sufficiency experiment with renewables that was tested in Pinar del Río.
"We are ready, whenever it is determined, to improve the conditions of the system as such, to start an experiment that would ensure, perhaps not round-the-clock coverage of demand, but to provide a bit more energy to the different circuits of the municipalities during the day, so that everyone can enjoy electricity," he stated.
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