Holguin, like the rest of Cuba, faces a complex electrical situation marked by low generation, fuel shortages, and the poor condition of power plants.
Radio Angulo’s news service contacted Rubert Reynaldo González, director of the Holguin Electric Company. Who reported that “the province, with a peak demand of nearly 240 megawatts (MW). It is currently operating with only about 70 MW. Less than 30% of what it needs to cover its usual consumption.”
Given this deficit, the strategy has been to prioritize essential services: hospitals, water pumping, the airport, tourism, and the Felton thermoelectric plant. These sectors consume around 26 MW and serve more than 15,000 customers. Added to this is the demand from the nickel industry, which is around 20 MW.
Reynaldo González explained that it’s no longer possible to plan power outages in blocks. As was done previously because the available energy is insufficient to sustain the usual schedule.
This logic, however, is not rigid. The manager himself pointed out that exceptional situations. Such as medical emergencies or serious breakdowns can alter the schedule.
Amid this reality, several circuits are prioritized, most notably Circuit 12. Which supplies power to the Pediatric, Clinical-Surgical, and Military Hospitals. Regarding this, the manager stated that these circuits are not shut down because they guarantee essential health services. In a context where fuel for emergency generators is limited.
He also reported that they have implemented an optimization process significantly reducing the load previously required. The manager explained that powering these hospitals used to demand about 35 MW. While today it ranges between 3.5 and 5 MW. He also announced that the neighborhood known as Pitaluga and the area surrounding the University of Holguin will be disconnected from the grid. This reorganization, he said, has been and will be key to keeping health facilities operational without overloading the overall system.
The solution for the Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital is also still under study. Currently supplied by three circuits, it needs to be upgraded to five. This aims to ensure equitable power outage rotation times, he explained.
Moreover the instability of the service has also triggered a chain reaction. After long hours without electricity, many families plug in multiple appliances simultaneously when power is restored. The official summarized it this way: “It’s natural for people to plug in multiple appliances at the same time. Which creates overloads that trip transformers and damage the infrastructure.”
In addition to this technical pressure, there are illegal activities and vandalism. Reynaldo González reported oil thefts from transformers. Primarily at substations and pumping stations.
“There is enormous vandalism,” he noted, warning that these acts exacerbate the crisis and affect essential services, such as water. In Moa, for example, the situation has become complicated because only one transformer is powering six circuits, when it should only be operating three.
Furthermore thefts of service connections, circuit breakers, and other components from homes and buildings have also been reported. Further complicating the restoration of service. The official emphasized that these actions not only damage the grid but also prolong the outages for entire communities. Therefore, he stated that several of these incidents are being treated as sabotage and must receive a corresponding response.
By: Miguel David Bruzón Hernández
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