Vicente de La O Levy, the Minister of Energy and Mines, openly acknowledged this Wednesday what many Cubans have long suspected: the government's strategy to avert summer blackouts has failed.
During an appearance on the Cuban TV program Mesa Redonda, facilitated by the official journalist and Palace communication strategist Arleen Rodríguez Derivet, de La O Levy admitted the shortcomings of the plan. This admission marks a rare moment of candor from a government that prides itself on its narrative of "continuity."
According to de La O Levy, planned maintenance activities for the first half of the year were carried out with the resources available in the country. "These maintenance activities were expected to result in outages of around four hours from January to June, primarily because we lack reserve units to generate power while maintenance is ongoing," he explained.
"While we managed to conduct the planned maintenance, we failed to adhere to the scheduled outage hours. What happened? Alongside our maintenance workload, we faced significant fuel shortages during this period, a recurring issue," de La O Levy added.
"This maintenance strategy collided with fuel shortages, resulting in extended outage periods, stretching up to 12 hours in some areas," he continued. "Although inconvenient, these blackout levels were deemed bearable," de La O Levy had asserted in late May.
The maintenance efforts, a crucial aspect of Miguel Díaz-Canel's administration's strategy, were completed. However, the minister admitted that the planned outage hours couldn't be met due to "significant fuel shortages, especially in March, May, and parts of June."
"A 100 MW unit today generates only 70 to 80 megawatts. The cumulative shortfall amounts to around 400 MW due to years of use and lack of spare parts. Our maintenance work merely keeps them operational but doesn't restore them to a 'zero miles' condition," de La O Levy said, describing the technical state of the thermoelectric plants.
Despite efforts to "keep them alive," the minister acknowledged the loss of thermoelectric plants like Mariel following a fire in March 2022 in its Unit 7 steam turbine.
Other thermoelectric plants have been decommissioned due to over 50 years of operation, according to de La O Levy. "Tallapiedra in Havana, for instance, had over 60 years of service and was decommissioned, reducing the park's availability alongside other significant breakdowns."
"We halted maintenance on June 30, and the results were immediate. The first days of July and almost the entire month saw fewer outages, with energy supply to the system increasing by 10.6%. However, demand continued to rise. During this period, there were also minor fuel shortages, though not as severe as in March and May," said the minister, appointed by Díaz-Canel to manage the crumbling national electrical system (SEN).
In July and August, thermal unit generation, along with Energás and floating power plants, met expectations, but distributed generation fell short.
"We always stated that maintenance would minimize disruptions compared to the previous period but wouldn't eliminate blackouts, which was the case for the first 15 days of July. However, August was extremely challenging. The early days of the month were less severe than the later ones," the Energy Minister explained.
What went wrong, according to the minister? Increased demand and fuel shortages again played a role, emphasized de La O Levy, concerned that the Mesa Redonda audience understood that their maintenance strategy, despite its failure, was carried out as planned.
"During the peak demand and consumption period, we faced unexpected outages at Felton and Céspedes. Can this be attributed to poor maintenance quality? We don't believe so. We perform maintenance with the resources available. If we have resources for the turbine, we work on the turbine and do some boiler cleaning. But without the necessary resources for the boiler, we can't intervene. Without the tubes, steel, or laminates, we can't proceed. Therefore, we conduct maintenance with the resources we have," he summarized.
In conclusion, the Díaz-Canel government's strategy to minimize blackouts... failed spectacularly.
Understanding the Failures in Cuba's Energy Strategy
To provide a clearer understanding of the issues surrounding Cuba's energy strategy, we have compiled some frequently asked questions and their answers.
Why did Cuba's energy strategy fail?
The strategy failed due to a combination of insufficient fuel supplies, aging infrastructure, and the lack of necessary spare parts for effective maintenance.
What were the planned outage hours compared to actual hours?
The government planned for outages of around four hours, but actual outages extended up to 12 hours in some areas.
How did fuel shortages impact the strategy?
Fuel shortages were significant, especially in March, May, and parts of June, severely disrupting the planned maintenance schedules and contributing to longer outages.
What is the state of Cuba's thermoelectric plants?
Cuba's thermoelectric plants are in poor condition due to years of operation and lack of spare parts. Maintenance work merely keeps them operational but doesn't restore them to full capacity.