Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Holguín, September 9.- Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez evaluated the maintenance schedule of block one of the Felton Thermoelectric Plant, which due to a breakdown had to be disconnected early from the National Electric Power System (SEN, for its acronym in Spanish) for a scheduled 20-day maintenance.
Eric Milanés Quinzán, the plant's general director, located in the Holguín municipality of Mayarí, assured on Monday that they have all the resources and qualified personnel to carry out the repair.
He explained that the actions aim to resolve a series of accumulated technical incidents, including locating and repairing a hydrogen leak in the generator, inspecting two bearings in the turbine, cleaning the steam condenser, and repairing a high-pressure heater.
Edier Guzmán Pacheco, head of thermal generation at the Electric Union, detailed the complexities of the operations directed at fixing the hydrogen leak in a coil of the generator, noting that the repair requires dedicating seven days solely to cooling before beginning the other tasks.
The member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba and Vice Prime Minister requested details about the procedure of the operations, emphasizing the participation of specialists who will carry out the most rigorous work 24 hours a day, although only one team of experts will fix the crack.
He learned that to recover the plant's efficiency and reliability parameters, they will perform cleaning and washing of the boiler, replace two smoke ducts, and repair an oil leak in the plant's transformer.
Likewise, maintenance is planned for equipment and systems considered essential to ensure electrical stability, and it is estimated that, upon completion, the block’s load will be restored above 230 megawatts, which will significantly strengthen generation capacity, Milanés Quinzán stated.
He specified that the priority is to efficiently and safely complete each task so that the block can stably rejoin the SEN as soon as possible.
Specialized teams from the Power Plants Maintenance Company, workers from Engineering Construction Company No. 3, personnel from the thermoelectric plant itself, and support brigades from the Nickel Union Services Company in Nicaro are participating in the work.
Regarding the rehabilitation of block two, which was damaged by a fire at the start-up process following partial capital maintenance that planned to incorporate approximately 220 megawatts into the SEN (National Electric Power System) in the summer of 2022, Milanés Quinzán explained the technical tasks undertaken for the boiler assembly.
He explained that the new design suggests a conditioned aggregate capable of processing domestic crude oil, and the preparation of the technical offer is underway, with evaluation planned for the coming weeks.
The Lidio Ramón Pérez Thermoelectric Plant, considered one of the most efficient in Cuba, was officially inaugurated by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz on January 5, 2001, and it is currently the power plant with the highest installed generation capacity in the country. (Text and photo: ACN)
