New day of blackouts in Cuba: outages of up to 880 MW are expected.

With seven thermoelectric units out of the system, the Cuban Electric Union (UNE) forecasts blackouts that will "only" reach 880 MW during the peak hours this Sunday.

With this forecast, a "slight improvement" is maintained, as described by the official journalist José Miguel Solís regarding Saturday's prediction, in which the report estimated around 800 MW during peak demand hours.

However, since each forecast depends on the actual behavior of the Electroenergetic System (SEN), on the day before yesterday, the service was affected from 6:01 a.m. due to a deficit in generation capacity, and as of 7:00 a.m. this Sunday, it has not been restored, resulting in power outages throughout the day.

The highest impact on Saturday occurred during peak hours, reaching 1,043 MW at 8:40 p.m.

For this Sunday, the SEN had a capacity of 2,070 MW available at 7:00 a.m., while the demand was 2,406 MW, representing a generation capacity deficit of 411 MW. “During the peak hours, a shortfall of 650 MW is estimated,” they stated in their daily report published on the social network Facebook.

The units that are out of the SEN due to breakdowns are: unit 8 of the Mariel power plant, units 5 and 6 of the Nuevitas power plant, unit 2 of the Felton power plant, and units 5 and 6 of the Renté power plant. They also report that unit 2 of the Santa Cruz power plant is not working due to maintenance.

There are limitations in thermal generation with 372 MW, while 44 distributed generation plants lack fuel for their operation, which represents a total of 278 MW affected by this concept, they add in their note.

The executives of the UNE estimate that during peak hours, they will activate unit 5 of the Diez de Octubre CTE with 70 MW, unit 8 of the Mariel CTE with 70 MW, and recover 80 MW from distributed generation.

With this forecast, they estimate a availability of 2,290 MW and a maximum demand of 3,100 MW during peak hours, resulting in a deficit of 810 MW. Therefore, if the expected conditions persist, an impact of 880 MW is predicted during this time.

Last Thursday, amid a day of intense blackouts, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz had the audacity to say that people do not lose their spirits, even as frustration reaches its peak on social media.

Several Cubans have expressed their opinions in the daily reports of the UNE, to show their indignation and discomfort over the critical situation in the country.

"Brothers, look, analyze, and come to the sad conclusion that there is no kind of hope for Cubans, especially for those on foot; it is a sad reality that we have to live. When things improve on one side, they break down on the other; the shamelessness and blackmail against the people dictate the time of day. Now there is oil, now more than 50 percent of the thermoelectric plants are breaking down. It is a total disaster in all spheres of society; we are going from bad to worse and without brakes."

"Go tell your stories to others; I'm tired of the same topic every day and I don't see any improvement."

"One unit enters and three leave. You do not respect yourselves, nor do you respect the people; this report is pointless. The UNE is so incapable that every day it surpasses itself and has more deficits than planned. Resign, this is too much for you."