This Tuesday morning, Cuban state media prominently featured the visit of Miguel Díaz-Canel to the Ernesto Guevara Thermoelectric Plant in Santa Cruz del Norte. The coverage was part of the usual media fanfare surrounding the tours of the Cuban leader and other officials. They emphasized that Díaz-Canel, appointed by Raúl Castro, is fulfilling a promise made on his YouTube program Desde la Presidencia, where he claimed that "all efforts are dedicated to achieving stability in the National Electric System."
Amidst numerous promises from the Cuban leader, it seems that supervising the maintenance actions the regime claims to be performing to ensure a summer without power outages is something he does best.
According to the Presidency of Cuba on social media, "due to the priority of restoring generation capacities, the leader begins his visit to the Mayabeque municipality at the thermal plant, which is currently undergoing maintenance on two of its three units." The same source states that "only Unit #2 is currently synchronized, providing 52 MW," while Block 1 "is undergoing extended partial maintenance for 77 days." They claim that with these improvements, "it is intended to exceed 90 MW."
"These maintenance efforts will increase generation power with the goal of reaching between 195 and 200 MW during the hottest months," explained Yasnel Torres Asencio, director of the Ernesto Guevara Thermoelectric Plant, to Díaz-Canel.
For his part, the leader shared his thoughts on the workers' efforts. "It gives a lot of confidence; we know you're working hard," he expressed, in a typical strategy to boost the morale of workers who are well aware that they labor under poor conditions and without adequate equipment.
Despite the visits to the country's power plants and promises of imminent improvement, Díaz-Canel has had to acknowledge that there are no guarantees of an uninterrupted power supply during the summer months. He addressed this issue on his own YouTube program, discussing the current state of power generation and the short, medium, and long-term projections.
Nevertheless, during one of his visits to municipalities, specifically in Banes, Holguín, he asked the children of that locality if they were enduring severe power outages.
Understanding Díaz-Canel's Visit to the Mariel Power Plant
In light of Díaz-Canel's visit to the Ernesto Guevara Thermoelectric Plant, many questions arise regarding the state of Cuba's power generation and the effectiveness of the government's measures. Here, we address some key inquiries.
What is the current state of the Ernesto Guevara Thermoelectric Plant?
As of the latest updates, the plant is undergoing maintenance on two of its three units. Unit #2 is operational, contributing 52 MW, while Block 1 is in extended partial maintenance.
What are the government's goals for power generation during the summer?
The Cuban government aims to increase the generation power to between 195 and 200 MW during the hottest months to prevent power outages.