THREE years after its rebirth as a manufacturer of efficient domestic refrigerators under the brand name ANTILLANO, the Domestic Appliance Production Enterprise (INPUD) in Santa Clara has confirmed this central Cuban city as the country’s capital of home refrigerators.
During the last three years, the enterprise has restarted its production of domestic refrigerators, which feature two attractions lacking in those made by other manufacturers: the motor compressor is much more efficient and therefore consumes less electricity, and the refrigerant gas is no longer a threat to the ozone layer.
That was confirmed for Granma International by Ramiro Valledor, an exceptional witness to the productive history of the enormous enterprise, whose first factory was inaugurated on June 24, 1964, by Ernesto Che Guevara, who was Minister of Industry at the time. The complex also produces gas stoves, fans, bicycles, coffeemakers and other lines of other popular consumer items, and is the region’s main employer.
The beautiful capital of the central province of Villa Clara was the setting, six years earlier, of a crucial victory by the revolutionary forces, and was liberated by guerrilla leader Comandante Che Guevara himself. The victory of the Rebel Army’s 8th Column during the Battle of Santa Clara at the end of December 1958 confirmed the downfall of the Batista dictatorship and led to his hasty flight.
For Valledor, the ANTILLANOS are like his children. “I saw them being born on the design table and come out by the tens of thousands on the production line.” Unfortunately, the Special Period ““ which began in the 1990s ““ seriously affected the factory, and the refrigerator line was one of the most affected production casualties.
“When the moment arrived, we decided to incorporate technological and productive advances into the new line of appliances. Therefore, we requested collaboration from the UN Development Program (UNDP), with the goal of achieving more efficient motor compressors and reducing electricity and fuel consumption, something truly vital for the country,” he recalls.
“We also decided to search for a new refrigerant gas to replace the traditional Freon, which was harmful to the ozone layer, and in that way kill two birds with one stone.” The Cuban state undertook the total renovation of the old factory, investing $5 million USD and a similar amount in Cuban pesos in the modernization.
The request was accepted by the UNDP, which took it to the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), an international body that supports efforts aimed at environmental protection on a world scale. Work is ongoing between both to reduce the volume of atmospheric pollution from thermal electric plants ““ the so-called “greenhouse effect” gases ““ which are causing progressive global warming and climatic changes with potentially catastrophic consequences.
The GEF expressed its pleasure at the additional idea of protecting the ozone layer through replacing Freon with harmless refrigerants.
Upon verifying the seriousness of the new effort, the GEF approved a $750,000 project to finance special equipment, technical offices and research trip, as well as the strengthening of a trial laboratory where the parameters of domestic production could be confirmed and related to those of similar equipment. Valledor, who has functioned as project director for the last three years, remembers that that is how the new ANTILLANO rose from its ashes like a Phoenix, flying higher than its predecessors.
This last judgement was confirmed at the modern trial laboratory that emerged as a result of the project, capable of taking exact measurements of the most diverse parameters of home refrigerators and many other appliances and equipment.
One of the laboratory’s prospective efforts ““ which would require extra support ““ is the measurement of electricity consumption by existing home refrigerators in the country, the majority of them more than 30 years old, in order to evaluate current energy use and the large savings that would be possible through their substitution with more efficient machines.
The laboratory’s quality work was recently confirmed by an international contract it won ““ with UNICEF as facilitator ““ for determining operation parameters for a mini-refrigerator using solar panels, destined for preserving vaccines and other medications for boys and girls in isolated regions of the planet.
When the UNPD/GEF project completed three years in April, an assessment meeting took place at INPUD, with the participation of the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC) representing the Cuban government.
Speaking for the UNDP, program official Antonio Perera expressed that agency’s satisfaction at their labors and results to the ANTILLANO workers and management, even though the production quantities did not meet the estimated figure, requiring additional financing to do so.
The quality and efficiency of the ANTILLANO fridges and the fact that their energy consumption is less than other refrigerators, together with the introduction of isobutane as an ecological refrigerant gas, assures them of an auspicious future both domestically and internationally, where they are also very appreciated. “In some Cuban stores, our refrigerators can’t be seen, because as soon as they come in, consumers buy them,” Valledor says, adding, “In addition to their ecological and economic advantages, the ANTILLANOS have spare parts available when needed.”
The factory is currently evaluating a new model that would include the benefit of an external evaporator, easily replaceable in case of damage. This new ANTILLANO also offers an independent freezer and maximum protective measures to the internal cooling system.
The laborious collective of specialists, technicians and workers had to negotiate numerous hurdles to get where it is today, and continues its march in spite of the difficulties.
That’s because, in the very heart of Cuban territory, where the revolutionary victory was sealed at the end of 1958, INPUD continues to labor to be worthy of such a historical past and its founder, Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, whose remains rest in the nearby Mausoleum together with those of his fallen comrades of the Bolivian guerrilla and jealously watch over the city of Santa Clara.
From Digital Granma