Cuba continues maintenance works in the National Electric Grid

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 19 (ACN) The more than 53,000 workers of the Cuban Electrical Industry, despite the shortages and limitations, make an enormous sacrifice to keep the vitality of electricity generation, said the secretary general of the National Union of Energy and Mines Workers, George Batista Perez.

In statements to Trabajadores newspaper, the union leader said that due to the economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States, it was not possible to acquire financing and spare parts.

This situation has affected the scheduled maintenance cycles for the execution of repairs, and of the 19 units, 13 are outside the scheduled periods.

However, it was recently reported that the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas was synchronized with the National Electric System (SEN), contributing some 260 megawatts.

During the last few weeks, the energy situation became more complex due to breakdowns in thermoelectric plants and in distributed generation, along with the increase in demand, and there are still insufficiencies in thermal generation with damages in some units, explained the secretary general.

He added that the first power unit of the Lidio Ramon Perez thermoelectric plant in Felton, Holguin(eastern region), is repairing defects in order to continue the process of adjustments that will be completed with its operation.