New Turkish Floating Power Ship set to Arrive in Cuba

Another Turkish floating power ship will arrive in Cuba in the next few weeks. The company Karadeniz Holding will deliver another power plant barge that will contribute 15 MW to the electric system. The ship will arrive in the next few weeks, according to the news agency, Prensa Latina.

The announcement was shared by Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Livan Arronte Cruz, from his Twitter account on April 2. 

An agreement was finalized by the Minister with Karadeniz Holding company for the delivery. The new ship will contribute 15 megawatts (MW) to the national electricity grid. It will join the four existing Karpowerships located in Havana Bay and in the Maximo Gomez Baez of the Mariel Thermoelectric Power Plant. 

Karpowership shares a contract signed in October 2018 for three power ships for 51 months with Unión Eléctrica (UNE). In July 2019, the ships Barış Bey and Esra Sultan began operations at the Port of Mariel. In November 2019, the Ela Sultan powership joined the fleet to increase the capacity of electricity generation to 184 MW. 

Karpowership has delivered power ships to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia and Cuba. Cuba is the first nation in the Latin American region to benefit from this unique method of producing power.

Stable electricity generation and supply is vital to economic development. Using the floating power plants will increase the national reserve and substitute the use of the diesel fossil fuel, which is one of the most expensive to generate. The vessels will allow maintenance of the other thermoelectric power plants.   

The news came on the same day that Unión Eléctrica reported service interruptions because of breakdowns at two units, the No. 1 at Felton and at Nuevitas. 

Work is being carried out on the maintenance of four thermoelectric power plants to guarantee the stability of electrical service delivery during the summer, as well as on the reestablishment of two units in the Mariel CTE. 

Information source: Prensa Latina news agency