Costa Sur Unit 5 enters service to ease the generation deficit

On July 22, 2026, NotiCel reports that Unit 5 at Central Costa Sur began to join the electric system at night. The injection, according to LUMA Energy, helps reduce a deficit of approximately 400 megawatts that caused load shedding during the day and left about 254 thousand customers without service. Genera Puerto Rico notified that the unit will begin production and that restoration will be gradual.

LUMA says the entry also seeks to keep the shedding from extending into the early hours, though the pace depends on how the additional generation comes in. It asserts it remains coordinated with Genera and the other generators. There is no statement from Josué Colón Ortiz in this note, nor a count by municipality.

On July 18, the Energy czar had asked Genera to advance Costa Sur 5 (400 MW), Palo Seco 4 (200 MW), and San Juan 7 (100 MW) for July 20. On the 19th he warned of selective outages because those three units were not ready. This July 22 note records that Costa Sur 5 does come online, the same day another NotiCel piece will say that unit went offline at 5:45 p.m. because of a hydraulic problem and that Genera corrected it to synchronize at night. Two movements of the same unit on the same day. They are not flattened.

The 254 thousand in this piece match the shedding warning NotiCel publishes the same 22nd. The 133 thousand of the 21st (San Juan 6) and the 188 thousand of the 16th (Costa Sur 6) are other events. They are not added. A trip, a deficit, and a synchronization are three steps of the Costa Sur arc. Here it covers Unit 5 coming online.

It is also not mixed with Genera's admission of responsibility that NotiCel will date July 23. The reader who wants LUMA's report has the URL at the foot.

Source: NotiCel. https://noticel.com/noticias/20260722/entra-en-servicio-la-unidad-5-de-costa-sur-para-aliviar-el-deficit-de-generacion/