Havana/The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant will remain outside the national electrical system for at least five days while its workers repair more than 100 welding seams at risk of failure. as reported this Wednesday the Electrical Union of Cuba.
The deadline starts on Wednesday, June 17, so if the work goes as planned, the largest generating unit in the country will not be ready until next Monday. The estimate, however, refers to the completion of the repairs and does not guarantee that the plant will immediately return to the system, as it will still have to pass the technical tests and the start-up process.
The director of the plant, Román Pérez Castañeda, explained to state television TV Yumurí that last Monday’s outage was caused by “the failure of a welding seam.” The break damaged three other nearby tubes, for a total of four affected ducts.
These tubes were already replaced between Tuesday and Wednesday, but the incident led specialists to carry out a more in-depth review of the facilities. During the inspection, more than a hundred weld beads were located that could cause new breakdowns.
This is Guiteras’ fourteenth departure so far this year, a frequency that reflects the advanced deterioration of the plant.
Faced with this scenario, the plant management decided not to limit the intervention to the point that caused the exit. The technicians will eliminate all the welds considered vulnerable and will redo them, although without completely replacing the tubes in which they are located.
To speed up the work, the Power Plant Maintenance Company sent a larger number of welders to Guiteras. Employees of the thermoelectric plant and engineers from the central office of the Unión Eléctrica also participate in the work.
The departure of the unit worsens the generation deficit that has affected Cuba for months. Guiteras, located in Matanzas, is the thermoelectric plant with the highest capacity in the country and its absence usually considerably increases blackouts in all provinces. This is Guiteras’s fourteenth departure so far this year, a frequency that reflects the advanced deterioration of the plant.
The plant, inaugurated in 1988, accumulates frequent breakdowns and unforeseen departures due to the deterioration of its facilities. Although the authorities have carried out partial repairs and maintenance in recent years, the plant continues to work without receiving the capital intervention it needs.
The Electrical Union assured that it will continue to report on the progress of the repairs, but did not specify when the tests will begin or when the unit could be synchronized again.
