Cuba tests its new Turkish floating power plant to alleviate electricity deficit

Cuba is testing a new floating power plant - of Turkish origin - which, after being synchronized with the national energy system, is expected to provide 110 megawatts (MW) to alleviate the deficit that for months has been causing daily blackouts on the island.

This is the seventh installation of its kind contracted by Cuba to Karandeniz Holding. With this incorporation, all together they will add up to 400 MW of power, according to state-owned media this Tuesday.

After its arrival at the port of Havana on November 15, the floating power plant is carrying out the testing and start-up phase of its six engines, three of which have already delivered loads to the Cuban electric system, according to the official website Cubadebate.

The vessel MV Karadeniz Powership Irem Sultan houses the floating power plant, a Liberian-flagged powership.

The first of these systems have been operating in Cuba since 2019 as a result of an agreement with Turkey's Karadeniz Holding.

Cuban authorities have indicated that the services of these plants are intended to increase the generation capacity to cover the demand for electricity, which has been limited for several months.

Blackouts - due to breaks and failures in the antiquated thermoelectric plants, lack of fuel and scheduled maintenance - have been common for several months on the island.

The shutdown in the last few hours of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE) in Matanzas province - the main one in the west of the island - after being under maintenance for almost two weeks, has once again strained the energy system.

Seven of the eight onshore power plants operating on the island are more than 40 years old, when technically the average age of these infrastructures is estimated to be 30.

The Cuban government announced in September that it intends to reduce blackouts before the end of this year with repairs and new investments.

Blackouts were one of the main reasons behind the anti-government protests of July 11 last year, the largest in decades, as well as those registered after Hurricane Ian, when a large part of the island was without power for a week.