Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, began a tour of the country’s thermoelectric plants today, as part of the direct monitoring of the recovery strategy for capacities within the National Electrical System (SEN).
A thread on the social media platform X from the Cuban Presidency explains that this tour, which began in the early hours at the Máximo Gómez Thermoelectric Plant, located in Mariel, is taking place amidst a complex national energy situation.
There, the post clarifies, the head of state verified the progress of work on unit Five, which is due to be synchronised to the SEN with a capacity of 65 megawatts in the coming hours. Currently, blocks Six and Eight of the plant are contributing 94 and 60 megawatts, respectively.
The publication emphasises that Roberto Pigueiras, director of the thermoelectric plant, explained to the head of state the maintenance efforts undertaken, as well as the production linkages with national industry for manufacturing spare parts, amidst financial and technological limitations exacerbated by the US blockade.
During the exchange with workers, the source confirms, Díaz-Canel Bermúdez acknowledged the exemplary response of the electrical sector to the crisis, and inquired about working conditions, which include the provision of food and hygiene products, specialised medical check-ups, and holiday plans for the workers’ children.
In this regard, he learned that salaries, although still insufficient, have been increased and now exceed 22 thousand pesos.
The text states that the president reaffirmed that the strategy to stabilise the SEN is based on three pillars: the recovery of capacities in thermoelectric plants, the boost to distributed generation, and the construction of new solar photovoltaic parks. “That is the path to the stability of the SEN,” he stated, cites the source.
Accompanying the head of state were the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, and the Director-General of the Electrical Union, Alfredo López Valdés, who also spoke with the workers and assessed the plant’s technical condition.
