During a tour of the Maximo Gomez Thermoelectric Plant (CTE), in western Artemisa province, the president stressed that although opinion matrixes want to attribute the damage to alleged enemy activity or negligence by the workers, the main difficulties are due to the political, financial and commercial blockade.

These difficulties limit the comprehensive maintenance of the plants and cause instability in the service, due to the accumulated technological deterioration, he pointed out.

According to a Cuban television report, Diaz-Canel recalled during the meeting that in mid-June, a series of measures were announced to prevent blackouts during the summer, as a result of which Unit 8 in Mariel, Artemisa, and one unit of the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Thermoelectric Plant in Cienfuegos were recovered.

The president pointed out that the failure of the measures began with the damage at the Lidio Ramon Perez Thermoelectric Plant in Felton and the intermittency of the Antonio Guiteras Plant, in western Matanzas city, both of vital importance within the country’s power generation system.

Given these adversities, Diaz-Canel pointed out, the strategy was updated with the main objectives of minimizing blackouts before the end of the year, developing investments and maintenance in 2023 to strengthen the system, and changing the country’s energy matrix.

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