August begins with blackouts exceeding 700 MW in Cuba.

The Electric Union reports serious blackouts in Cuba due to a generation deficit and lack of fuel, significantly affecting electricity demand.

Current Affairs
CiberCuba Editorial Team

01/08/2024 - 11:27am (GMT-5) |

The month of August begins with bad news for Cubans, as blackouts will continue to affect the country with significant intensity.

According to the report from the Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (UNE) for August 1, 2024, the national electric system (SEN) has faced serious difficulties in meeting the energy demand.

Yesterday, the electric service was affected by a generation capacity deficit starting from 6:49 AM. The maximum impact was 758 MW, recorded at 10:10 PM, coinciding with the peak demand.

At 07:00 hours this Thursday, the availability of the SEN is at 2350 MW, while the demand reaches 2500 MW, with 91 MW affected in the system. By noon, a maximum impact of 450 MW is expected.

The situation worsens with the outage of several units due to breakdowns, including unit 1 of the CTE Santa Cruz, unit 5 of the CTE Nuevitas, unit 2 of the CTE Felton, and units 3 and 6 of the CTE Renté. These limitations in thermal generation represent a reduction of 428 MW.

Additionally, 54 distributed generation plants are out of service due to a lack of fuel, totaling 352 MW affected. For the peak demand, the entry of unit 1 of the CTE Santa Cruz with 70 MW is expected, as well as units 3 and 6 of the CTE Renté with 70 and 60 MW respectively.

The UNE predicts that during peak hours, the availability will be 2555 MW against a maximum demand of 3200 MW, resulting in a deficit of 645 MW. Consequently, a shortfall of 715 MW is forecasted during this period.

The Cuban government had announced in June that blackouts would increase due to the rise in maintenance work at several Thermoelectric Plants (CTE) to avoid outages in the summer.

That promise, like so many others, was also not fulfilled. In July and August, the government blames the lack of fuel and the extreme heat for the increase in demand and, consequently, the rise in blackouts.

The situation reflects the ongoing energy crisis on the island, which daily affects citizens and poses serious challenges for managing the electric supply in the coming months.