The Cuban Electric Union (UNE) published a disheartening report this Tuesday warning of blackouts that could reach as much as 1,440 MW during peak hours, a figure that does not improve much during the daytime hours, with disruptions estimated to be around 950 MW.
La UNE admitted that yesterday, as has become customary, the electricity service was affected 24 hours a day, with blackouts reaching 1,356 MW at 9 p.m., that is, 316 MW above what was estimated in yesterday's report.
Once again, the state entity fell short in its forecasts, something that has also become a common occurrence.
The availability of the National Electric Power System (SEN) at 7:00 a.m. today was 1,900 MW and the demand 2,790 MW, with 825 MW affected by a deficit in generating capacity.
Four thermoelectric units are currently out of service: units 6 and 8 of the Mariel CTE, unit 2 of the Felton CTE, and unit 5 of the Renté CTE.
The unit 5 of the CTE Mariel, the Varadero Energies plant, units 1 and 3 of the CTE Santa Cruz, and unit 1 of the CTE Felton are under maintenance.
The limitations in thermal generation amount to 375 MW. 51 distributed generation plants are out of service due to fuel, with 392 MW affected by this issue.
For the peak period, the entry of Distributed Generation engines outside with 80 MW of fuel is estimated.
With this bleak forecast, a availability of 1,980 MW and a maximum demand of 3,350 MW are estimated for peak hours, resulting in a deficit of 1,370 MW. Therefore, if the predicted conditions are maintained, an impact of 1440 MW is forecasted for this period.
In the comments section, as every day, Cubans have erupted in indignation and helplessness in the face of a crisis that shows no signs of improvement.
Candela. Almost 2,000 MW of real deficit. Right now they won't turn on the power anymore. This country is a disaster. The result of poor government management, where they were granted credits by Russia in 2017 for the construction and repair of thermoelectric plants and the money was spent on other things. But the saddest thing is that they don't have power outages and the people pay for it, while cynically blaming the blockade. How long, gentlemen? How loooong?,” criticized an outraged Internet user.
"I consider that some individuals should perform true harakiri like the Japanese. It is inconceivable that they would issue a report like this without even flinching. I believe that from now on, the daily report on power outages should be presented by the President of the National Assembly himself. He should call for an urgent session where those responsible explain what is happening and how they plan to solve the problem immediately. Besides the blockade, how is it possible that they have let the country reach this situation? This is not to mention the other branches of crisis that we all know about," another person said.
There were those who did not hesitate to insist on giving up a bit of power outages to Havana, because when shared, it affects fewer people.
Mambí blood is somewhere in our veins. Every day, the screw tightens more and they play with the idea that it will burst, and our homeland will become a touch of a horn calling for homeland or death. Gentlemen of the ruling elite, take urgent measures with the deficit distribution. Havana is Havana, but history says that freedom has always gone from East to West," retorted a Cuban resident in the province.
"Our field is tough but full of brave men. Take special measures with everyone equally," he added.
"Another day of hell like yesterday. We have been in this ordeal for years, we can't take it anymore, it's total incompetence"; "Yesterday they almost turned off the entire Mayabeque, today for sure they will turn us off completely, what a disaster and we are going for more! More than yesterday, every day the situation becomes more catastrophic. God, protect us, we are being mercilessly tortured," wrote other Cubans at the limit.
And summer hasn't arrived yet...
The months of April and May have been especially hot in Cuba, even reaching record temperatures. This has caused power outages of up to 18 hours a day in some areas of the country, preventing Cubans from resting and keeping food refrigerated.
In recent days, Miguel Díaz-Canel himself admitted that there are no guarantees that the summer months will pass without disruptions to the electrical service.
Díaz-Canel reiterated what the Electric Union (UNE) announced days ago, that power outages will increase this month and next due to the increase in maintenance work at the thermal power plants, in an effort to ensure service in July and August.
When referring to the coming months, the director of UNE, Alfredo López Valdés, tried to show optimism by stating that "we are aware that we are experiencing major blackouts, but there is a tendency to improve."
According to the manager, no maintenance works have been scheduled for any thermoelectric plant in July, which does not mean that things are going to go well.
"We are going to have the breakdowns that normally occur in the system, we are going to have the limitations that normally occur in the system," he pointed out.
The ruler, for his part, supported his expert by saying that a zero blackout, under the current conditions, is very difficult.
There may be a blackout at a certain time, and we are going to work to ensure that they are not prolonged or of long duration," Diaz-Canel concluded.
What is your opinion?
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