Cuba's major power plant is working to fix a boiler leak

MATANZAS, Cuba, Jul 29 (ACN) The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant (CTE by its Spanish acronym), a major generating plant in the country, was shut down at 9:00 a.m. today to repair a boiler leak.

This plant, which was supplying approximately 220 megawatts to the National Electric System (SEN), was shut down.

Roman Perez Castañeda, the plant's technical director, told the Cuban News Agency that they estimate the plant will be back to operate in approximately 72 to 96 hours, and noted that prior cooling is required to work on the area.

The cooling process takes between 30 and 36 hours. The fault is then precisely located, a repair plan is determined based on the identified problem, materials are prepared, the damaged material is removed, and inspections are carried out, Perez Castañeda explained.

After scheduled maintenance that included more than 600 corrective actions from July 14th to 18th, the CTE stopped on the 20th to fix leaks in the boiler pipes and work on the tightness of the cover station. It returned to the SEN on the 25th and is now shutting down again to work on the boiler area, which may be related to high-pressure reheater failures, according to the technical director.

To carry out the repairs, as usual, they will have the support of the Power Plant Maintenance Company, specialized personnel from other plants in the country, and also from different entities in the province of Matanzas.

They will take advantage of the shutdown to carry out a total of 95 actions that contribute to the CTE's improved performance.

Founded by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro in 1988, the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant is a pioneer in thermal generation in Cuba, with a workforce renowned for its dedication and aware of the importance of the industry.