The first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, made a special appearance on the causes and possible solutions of the current electro-energy situation in the country, before Cuban radio and television.

He was accompanied by the Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, deputy prime minister; the Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte Cruz; and Omar Ramírez Mendoza, deputy director of the National Electric Union.

At the beginning of his intervention, the President showed in a graph the behavior of the demand for electricity in the country. He pointed out that it reflects two peak moments, a milder one at noon, which has to do with lunch hours and cooking food, and another, much greater, between 9 and 10 p.m., linked to the arrival of people at home.

He explained that what is done in these cases is to move consumers to other schedules, but in the current situation in which the National Electroenergetic System finds itself, it is not possible to mitigate those peaks.

When there are no peaks, demand is covered by the generation of thermoelectric plants, which run on national fuel, which, in terms of availability, does not represent a problem for the country, he added.

The thermoelectric plants -he added- have their central nucleus in two of them, the Felton and the Antonio Guiteras, when a unit of these thermoelectric plants goes out due to breakdowns or maintenance, it is very difficult to cover this generation deficit with other generators.

He stated that, to guarantee the necessary levels of generation, the country has carried out recent maintenance and repair interventions at Felton. However, an investment in thermoelectric plants is very expensive and can exceed 4 years. He reported that negotiations are being held with a friendly country to put three new blocks into operation.

Díaz-Canel explained that the fundamental causes of the current situation are breakdowns and accumulated lack of maintenance due to financing problems, especially associated with the economic blockade imposed by the US government. He added that the fuel deficit also affects, motivated by the financial persecution it exercises against Cuban banks.

He also pointed out that during non-peak hours, with the system operating at full capacity, there are no deficit situations, but these plants suffer breakdowns that cannot always be predicted, and that break scheduled maintenance.

When the midday peak is entered, generation from renewable sources is added, in particular wind and photovoltaic, and the diesel groups, necessary to cover that peak, enter emergency situations. However, in the current state, even with them we cannot cover the peaks and that is why we have affectations in those hours, "he specified.

Regarding the distributed generation generator sets, he explained that they were conceived to work in short periods of time where a deficit could occur. However, at the moment, they have had to work more, so they consume a greater amount of fuel, which is difficult to obtain, this has meant stopping important activities in the economy because the fuel has been used for electricity generation and, above all, to meet the needs of the population.

In the peak of the night - the Head of State pointed out - the photovoltaic system does not enter, therefore, only the generator sets and thermoelectric plants remain. Therefore, under these conditions, where, in addition, the peak is greater than during the day, the demand cannot be covered during said hours either.

At another point in his appearance, he maintained that work has been done with the little financing that has been available in the last two years, mainly from tourism revenues, since the country began to revive due to the control of COVID-19, and what has been collected from sales in stores in Freely Convertible Currency.

This capital – he said – has made it possible to buy fuel and allocate dozens of resources based on this maintenance. "With that money, a whole group of repairs and maintenance has been contracted that should lead us to stability in the coming months," said Díaz-Canel.

Currently, he pointed out, the strategy is focused on carrying out maintenance on the plants with the greatest installed power and guaranteeing their rapid incorporation.

He called for taking responsibility with savings. To exemplify its importance, he stated: "There are almost four million homes in the country; if only three million would turn off a 20W light bulb that may be unnecessarily on, that would instantly represent a power of 60 MW, the same as a generation block of la Renté or one of the Ten of October".

Speaking, Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, faced with the energy contingency facing the country, emphasized the need for savings and the support that the main political and mass organizations can provide in this task, in the that all our people participate. Therefore, he urged the population to take saving measures in homes and production and service centers that contribute to reducing electricity consumption to avoid electrical peaks, in order to adjust demand to the generation capacity that the country has. country.