Cuba sustains efforts to restore electric power
Photo: The Ministry of Energy and Mines
October 20, 2024 Hour: 12:02 pm
The island continues to work to restore electric power after a new disconnection reported on Saturday night.
Cuba is in the midst of an intense effort to restore its electric power grid. Recent updates indicate that significant progress has been made in reactivating electricity in various provinces.
In Matanzas, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant has successfully synchronized with the central microsystem, safely increasing its load. This is a crucial step to stabilize the power supply in the region, and more circuits are expected to be connected gradually.
Since then, the ministry that leads the efforts to normalize the energy service has reported a series of positive advances: from the interconnection of different systems, it is in the process of recovering the circuit of the western zone network.
Meanwhile, other provinces also report progress. In Mayabeque, service was restored in the areas of Güines 2 and 3, prioritizing hospital centers and laboratories. Santiago de Cuba reported the partial reactivation of circuits 9 and 15 thanks to distributed generation microsystems.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has acknowledged the complexity of the recovery process. Yesterday afternoon, authorities reported a restoration of 16% of the supply but added the warning that the system’s operation remains unstable.
But at 10:15 p.m. on Saturday, unit 1 of the CTE Santa Cruz del Norte tripped. At that time, 120 circuits had already been energized. This affectation totally disconnected the western subsystem, explained Lázaro Guerra Hernández, director of electricity at MINEM.
After the event, efforts were concentrated on starting up the CTE Antonio Guiteras, which synchronized the central subsystem in the morning.
On the other hand, the general director of the Electric Union (UNE), Alfredo López Valdés, emphasized that the availability of fuel has improved, which could facilitate progress in the total reactivation of the service.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel has led meetings to assess the situation and has urged the population to trust in the efforts of the electrical personnel, who are working hard to restore service. Authorities have assured that measures are being taken to accelerate recovery, including the activation of generators in Havana and other provinces that could contribute up to 900 MW to the grid.
Meanwhile, climatic effects are expected as a result of the proximity of Hurricane Oscar, which threatens to affect the east of the island. Authorities are on alert and have urged the population to follow safety recommendations while working to minimize the damage that the meteorological phenomenon may cause.
Autor: MFD-teleSUR
Fuente: Cubadebate - Granma