“The Government is working today with a top priority of the socialist State committed to the people; and that priority is precisely the solution to the problems of electricity generation”. This was stated by the President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez in the 31st From the Presidency podcast.
The Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy as well as General Director of the Electrical Union Alfredo López Valdés were present in the space, together with the president.
Referring to the Round Table recently held on the subject, the first secretary of the Party's Central Committee underlined that it generated diverse states of opinion, which he considered essential for the arguments to be offered in the podcast, and which served as a starting point to provide concrete information and answers.
COMPARATIVE AND NECESSARY DATA
At the beginning, the president shared some very illustrative indicators.
“Demand on a March day in the morning -he explained- reached 2,580 MW; however, today's demand has sometimes reached 3,050 MW. This means that the day's demand grew by 470 MW”. The Cuban President noted that the more than 3,000 MW were not usual figures in the country, at that time of day.
“On the other hand, he continued, on those days in March, the availability was 1,790 MW; and today we have 1,900 MW. In other words, we have a little more availability than at that time. And in March, then, with those demand and availability ratios, the deficit was 827 MW. Today, the deficit is 1,200 MW. In other words, the deficit has grown in the daytime by 373 MW, which is a considerable growth.
“In the evening hours, in March, we had peak demand of 3,250 MW. Today we are at 3,500 -that's 250 MW more. At night we have had similar availabilities of around 1,960 MW at both times. Therefore, the deficit in March, at night, was 1,154 MW; and now we are in deficit above 1,600, oscillating between 1,500 and 1,600 MW. In other words, the deficit grew by more than 440 MW”.
In this regard, the head of Minem added that, “regardless of the fact that we are entering the summer season, there are values in the demand of the average schedule, which had never been at these levels of 3,000 MW. They are extremely high”.
Among the causes of the phenomenon, he identified the lack of gas, which increases the demand between 200 and 250 MW, due to the cooking of food. He also talked about the increase in temperatures; the non-compliance with electricity consumption plans in some organizations (14 OSDE identified).
The minister said that the provinces are adjusting to their consumption plan, already reduced, but Havana has an important non-compliance in the residential sector, and within the residential sector, the non-state management forms.
De la O Levy explained that the schedule for the incorporation of parks, 13 between February and April, is being met, but stressed that the “growth in demand and consumption has meant that this new incorporation is not being perceived”. In addition, “there is a level of distributed generation affected by fuel”, although he pointed out that the government's plan does not lose sight of the progress of this program. He explained that “a significant amount of distributed generation has been incorporated. We have more than 1,000 MW today in distributed generation, technically available”, but, as the president reflected, it has not been possible to use them.
“If we had that distributed generation, with fuel, plus the parks that we have incorporated today, the day would be totally different,” said the minister, adding that, if we did not have them, the day would have been the same as the night, with about 1,600 MW of deficit.
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT SOLAR PARKS?
Based on the minister's explanations, Díaz-Canel mentioned “states of opinion that are very critical, or very suspicious, about the investments we have made in photovoltaic solar energy”. He listed several ideas of those states of opinion: “Solar panels already produce more MW, but what do they do? Why don't they improve blackouts; how I wish solar panels would work, to see if we really improve; several solar parks are inaugurated in the country, but there is no improvement with the current”.
In response to the president's question as to whether or not they have constituted a real advance, the head of the Minem referred to his detailed interview for the Granma newspaper, in which he explained what platform this strategy is based on.
He informed that in view of the ostensible decrease, both in the import and domestic production of crude oil, it became essential to look for a solution to reduce fuel, and the quickest, easiest to invest in and with high production levels is photovoltaic energy. “We are also developing wind energy. But it is more expensive, and the investment processes are larger,” he clarified. We said: “We are going to start, at an accelerated pace, on the subject of renewable energies. Life - commented Vicente de la O Levy - is showing recovery”.
“And we are going to increase gas production” - added the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Party.”
“Exactly -said the minister-. And the crude curve is already starting to rise, the values are already higher than those of previous months, and gas has a strategy. We are going to produce more from drilling, from arrangements that are being made”.
He stressed that this is done without abandoning other specific lines, such as the recovery of the Supertanker Base, which is also part of this strategy. He also mentioned essential conditions, such as the recovery of Cupet oil, storage and logistics.
By way of essence, in relation to the photovoltaic solar parks, he stated that the strategy is the correct one, and that, as in May, five parks will be incorporated in June, which are also assured. In the same month a thermoelectric plant enters, after its capital repair; and then, in July, the parks continue to enter and another thermoelectric plant enters. And so on and so forth.
BLOCKADE: THE UNHEALTHY PERSECUTION THAT DOES NOT CEASE
Regarding the decrease in fuel imports to the Island, the minister recalled that Venezuela, one of our main suppliers, has also suffered severe sanctions, to which the president added that coercive measures have been applied.
Díaz-Canel shared an explanation on bridges built between Cuba and the Bolivarian land, and asserted that, as a whole, “we found a formula. A formula that we are not going to explain so as not to be persecuted”, and he denounced precisely the financial and energy persecution.
Regarding the effects of the blockade, the minister denounced that, many times, there is money to carry out operations, but it does not reach its destination. He brought up the liquefied gas ship that today is unloaded in Santiago, and used it as a concrete example of the persecution of the sector.
“We have had specialists working in thermoelectric plants with our engineers, and they have called them on their cell phones. They closed the suitcase of tools and had to leave; and other specialists who, at airports called them because they were coming to intervene in one of our units.”
“Such is the perversity of this blockade, which some people believe does not exist”, said the president.
PLAN BETTER AND ENSURE RATIONALITY
“The growth in demand is great,” said General Director of the Cuban Electrical Union Alfredo López Valdés. He emphasized the need for a restrictive plan for state consumers and other actors who are in prioritized circuits, and to control it on a daily basis: “Whoever is in that circuit that is not turned off, we have the right to ask them to use electricity rationally”.
In this regard, the head of state emphasized the role to be played by the provincial and municipal energy councils.
Alfredo López ratified that, “if we achieve in July and August the combination of improving the availability of fuel and achieving rationality in the use of electricity in the country, this will obviously reduce the number of blackouts, and will allow rotation, and will allow planning”.
