The Cuban Electric Union (UNE) admitted in its report this Saturday that yesterday, as has become customary, the electricity service was affected 24 hours a day, with blackouts amounting to 1,474 MW.
That value, the highest in recent months in Cuba, occurred at 8:40 p.m. coinciding with rush hour.
The availability of the National Electricity System (SEN) at 7:00 a.m. was 1,990 MW and the demand was 2,760 MW, with 787 MW affected by a deficit in generation capacity.
The estimated power outage during the day on Saturday is 1,000 MW, a figure that will rise to 1,170 MW at night. However, in recent days, forecasts tend to fall short of the power cuts that Cubans then experience, mainly in the country's inland provinces.
Four thermoelectric units are currently out of order: unit 6 of the Nuevitas CTE, unit 2 of the Felton CTE, and units 5 and 6 of Renté.
Units 1 and 3 of the Santa Cruz Cogeneration Plant and unit 1 of the Felton Cogeneration Plant are under maintenance.
The limitations on thermal generation amount to 463 MW. Fifty-one distributed generation plants are out of service due to fuel-related issues, with 384 MW affected by this situation.
For the peak, the entry of Distributed Generation engines that are currently out of service due to fuel shortage with 150 MW is estimated, as well as the entry of unit 6 of the Rente CTE with 60 MW (in startup process).
With this forecast, a peak availability of 2,200 MW and a maximum demand of 3,300 MW are estimated, resulting in a deficit of 1,100 MW. Therefore, if the forecasted conditions persist, an impact of 1,170 MW is predicted during this time period.
In a subsequent publication, the UNE denied that the Guiteras had gone out of service.
The CTE Guiteras is online, stable at 245 MW. It is false that we will be without power for 24 hours.
In the last few hours, the Cuban Electric Union announced "emergency actions" in several thermoelectric units that have suffered breakdowns in the country.
Alfredo López Valdés, general director of the UNE, announced that this weekend they will synchronize three blocks of the Maximo Gómez (Mariel) and Diez de Octubre (Nuevitas) thermoelectric power plants (CTE) with a total contribution of 280 MW to the system.
From the central power plant in Mariel, it was explained that at this time there are two machines that can be put into operation because they are in a "relatively positive" state, which would mean four fewer hours of blackout.
"It's not that they solve the complete problem, but they improve the current situation," he said.
Another block of the Nuevitas thermoelectric power plant could be incorporated into the system with 100 MW, which translates to two hours less of blackout.
The executive attributed the strong blackouts to the condition of the thermoelectric power plants, high temperatures, and the increase in demand in the residential sector, with the purchase of many air conditioning units and electric motorcycles.
The energy crisis keeps the people in a constant state of stress due to the blackouts, which have exceeded 14 hours in some areas.
On Thursday night, protests were recorded in Baracoa, in the province of Guantánamo, where people took to the streets to express their outrage at the abusive lack of electricity and the shortage of food.
That same day, Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that the power outages of the last few days have been "terrible."
The president said that the shutdown of several plants has coincided with the maintenance of others just before the summer, and that "this needs to be explained to the people," so "they know that there is an uncomfortable situation, but temporary."
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