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    • [ go back ] DSE wins high power contract in Cuba
      06/11/2007 12:02:02

  • Deep Sea Electronics plc, UK manufacturer of control systems for the power generation industry, recently won a lucrative contract to supply their high-tech controllers to Cuba.  The contract, worth approximately £1m to the UK based Electronics Company, commenced in May and will help alleviate Cuba’s growing electricity crisis.

     

    The Caribbean island, which is now heavily reliant on tourism, has undergone massive changes in recent years.  Heavily supported by the former Soviet Union prior to the collapse, the country is now in need of significant investment in the infrastructure to ensure economic growth.  In particular the electricity distribution system has seen little investment and is now struggling to cope with demand – blackouts and energy shortages have become a way of life for Cuba and disruption to the business community is slowing the turn-around.

     

    The situation was further compounded by the arrival of Hurricane Ivan.  This devastated a large area of the Caribbean, and Cuba itself suffered massive damage, decimating the electrical supply network to such an extent that, even today, whole areas are still without power.

     

    In a major Cuban Government initiative, improvements have begun that will alleviate the problems and prevent further collapse of the electrical supply. 

     

    The first part of the project began with the purchase of over 2,000 gen-sets and nearly 2,000 load share systems and transfer switches.  Contracts were awarded to several large OEMs throughout South and Central America, and control systems made by Deep Sea Electronics (DSE), are being fitted. 

     

    The new mini power stations strategically placed along the main supply, meant that grid failure or partial blackouts could be picked up by the nearest stand-by system. DSE were chosen because their systems offer comprehensive and flexible operation for a variety of application demands, but are also extremely reliable and user-friendly.

     

    DSE Latin American Sales Manager, said ' We first heard of this exciting project back in February.  We worked hard with a number of different OEMs to bid for the contract and along the way we fought off stiff competition from other Control Manufacturers from France, China, and Eastern Europe.”

     

    This part of the project is expected to take 18 months to complete, and is intended to be a fail-safe solution to Cuba’s lack of capacity and supply, until improvements to the distribution network are complete.  The high volumes do not pose any problem for DSE’s high-tech production lines and orders started leaving the UK site in May 2005 to fulfill the tight project deadlines.