Vice CUED says energy situation will improve soon

The vice-president of the Unified Council of Distribution Companies (CUED), Celso Marranzini, affirmed that the energy supply will improve in the coming weeks with the entry into operation of several generating plants that have suffered delays in their start-up.

He explained that the Energas turbine (120 megawatts) will be ready on September 26, while EGE Haina’s SIBA combined cycle (62 megawatts) will be incorporated in mid-October. In addition, a 65 megawatt emergency barge has been contracted and will also be operational before October 15. “All this will add to the system in a very short term and will solve the current situation,” he said.

The CUED vice-president added that by the end of the year the Energía 2000 plant is expected to come into operation. However, he clarified that during those months consumption will naturally decrease due to the drop in temperatures.

Marranzini recalled that during this year, several private sector plants did not comply with the deadlines, which reduced the available capacity in the electricity system. He pointed out that Energia 2000 should have entered in March and still has not done so, that the Energas turbine should have been ready in the first quarter and was not prepared either, and that SIBA did not close its combined cycle on time. He considered that if these deadlines had been met, the country would have an additional 600 megawatts.

The official offered these details in response to the declarations of the president of the Association of Industries of the country (AIRD), J ulio Virgilio Brache, who assured that the blackouts have affected the industrial sector.

Marranzini called on Brache to specify which industrial zones are affected by interruptions, as he maintained that in the mornings there are no blackouts. “The power interruptions occur at night because many of the substations have not yet been repowered, and then power suspensions do occur. But we have been cautious so that national production is not affected and so that they do not have to resort to power plants that increase costs”, he stated.

He also urged businessmen, the media, and society in general to support the fight against electricity fraud.