Cuba Deals with Energy Contingency after Breakdowns in Power Plants

Havana, May 14 (ACN) Some technical breakdowns in Cuban power plants have led to an energy contingency in the country affecting the residential and state sectors, which is expected to be solved over the next hours, said the island’s Energy and Mines Minister Livan Arronte.

In televised appearance on Friday, the minister explained that the electric system failed to produce 600 megawatts due to breakdowns in power units in the western part of the country. This led to blackouts during Friday in several territories do to a lack of energy which was balanced with the power output from plants in central and eastern Cuba.

The country’s largest thermo-electric plant Antonio Guiteras, in western Matanzas, reported failures in one of its boilers, similar situation had been reported by another two units in the power plant in the region of Santa Cruz del Norte.

The Minister explained that operations have taken place with low fuel levels in some areas, and under what he called “punctual situations.” The scenario worsened, he said, due to operational difficulties in the south-central harbor of Cienfuegos after one of the tankers that usually ships fuel to the western Mariel power plant faced problems.

Some of the inconveniences will be solved on Saturday, with the arrival of the fuel at Mariel power plant, the fixing of the boiler at the Matanzas plant and the joining by two power generations units of the national energy system, the minister said.

The energy cut that occurred in several territories will progressively be reestablished, said the government official.

The Mines and Energy Minister pointed out that despite financial and economic tensions caused by the US economic blockade against Cuba, the country prioritizes the energy output for the population, while all energy-saving measures recently adopted targeted the state economic sector.
Not a single restriction or sanction of those adopted against Cuba by the former US Donald Trump administration has been lifted so the island continues to face a complex energy situation.