RADIO HABANA CUBA Hello and welcome to Breakthrough, our Science, Technology and the Environment update. I am Arnaldo - Arnie - Coro, and it is as always my pleasure to bring you about four minutes devoted to the latest developments in the areas of science, technology and the environment in Cuba...
BREAKTHROUGH
Report on Science, Technology & the EnvironmentFor broadcast Sunday, & Thursday, April 14 & 18, 2002
Written and narrated by Arnaldo "Arnie" Coro, RHC's Science Editor
Today I'll tell you about how the Guaso River hydroelectric power plant is receiving a major overhaul to bring it back to capacity. Way back in 1917, the Guaso River hydroelectric plant was installed to provide electricity to an area of Guantanamo province in Eastern Cuba.
The fact is that the original, almost-85-year-old water-powered turbines and their associated generators could still provide several more years of useful life if they could receive a major overhaul... And this was precisely what a group of workers, technicians and engineers are accomplishing now at a very modest cost in foreign currency. Once back on line, the Guaso River hydroelectric plant will not only provide once again low-cost "green electricity," but also will save the nation some two hundred thousand dollars a year, the amount of money needed to buy the imported oil used to generate the equivalent megaWatt hours of electricity using oil-fired power plants.
The antique power plant has brought a lot of attention from visitors to Guantanamo province, one of the areas of Cuba where solar photovoltaic and hydroelectric power are used to provide energy to isolated rural communities. Cuban researchers are also advocating for the installation of more wind-powered generators in Guantanamo province's coastal areas, near the extreme eastern tip of the island. They are also in the process of designing alternative power systems that combine hydro, wind and photovoltaic generators to increase the reliability. The Guaso River power plant is the flagship of alternative energy use in all of Eastern Cuba, and engineering students have it included in their tour of early technologies facilities.
Recovery of almost the total power output of the Guaso power plant will come at a later time, as some of the heavy equipment that requires major overhauling should be moved to remotely located machine shops, or in some cases be replaced. Investing resources in renewable energy in any of its forms is a very worthwhile investment for Cuba, because we have to import large quantities of fuel oil for the electricity-generating power plants.
From Havana, this was another edition of Breakthrough, covering the almost-completed major overhaul and re-connection on line of the nation's most veteran hydroelectric power plant in Guantanamo...
I am Arnaldo - Arnie - Coro, RHC's Science Editor, together with sound engineer Jose Costa Pupo, now wishing you all excellent reception of our short wave broadcasts.
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