A deficit of 1,200 MW worsens blackouts in Cuba.

The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) indicated that duringThursday and the early hours of this Friday, significant disruptions in electricity supply have occurred due to a deficit in generation capacity, which will exceed 1,200 MW on this day.

The most critical moment on September 26 was registered at 8:10 PM, coinciding with peak hours, when the interruption reached a deficit of 922 MW.

The UNE argues that the bad weather conditions worsened the situation of the National Electro-Energy System (SEN), affecting an additional 103 MW in various western provinces.

The outages due to bad weather caused by Hurricane Helene were distributed as follows: Pinar del Río with 11 MW, Artemisa with 20 MW, Havana with 27 MW, Mayabeque with 12 MW, Cienfuegos with 19 MW, and Sancti Spíritus with 14 MW.

Forecast for the next hours

For this morning, the availability of the SEN stood at 1,960 MW, while the demand rose to 2,510 MW, resulting in a capacity deficit of 556 MW, in addition to 48 MW due to outages in the distribution networks in the central-western provinces.

For mid-morning hours, the UNE estimates that the impacts will reach 750 MW due to this deficit.

Several generating units are out of service. Among them are unit 2 of the Felton Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE); and units 5 and 6 of the Renté CTE and unit 2 of the Santa Cruz CTE, which is under maintenance. Additionally, there are reported limitations in thermal generation amounting to 494 MW.

The problem is exacerbated by the shutdown of 46 distributed generation plants due to a lack of fuel, affecting important engines and trucks in Santiago de Cuba and Mariel.

A total of 521 MW are out of service, of which 335 MW correspond to distributed groups and 186 MW to barges and fuel engines.

Perspective for the peak hour on September 27

During this evening's peak hours, the UNE anticipates the connection of unit 1 of Energas Varadero with 30 MW, and the completion of unit 4 of the same plant with an additional 15 MW.

However, an availability of only 2,005 MW is estimated against a maximum demand of 3,150 MW, which would generate a deficit of 1,145 MW, and an impact of up to 1,215 MW is forecasted.

Among the reasons for the generation deficit, the UNE pointed out the bad weather caused by Hurricane Helene, as it has been the cause of fuel ships being unable to unload at the Port of Mariel.

The generation deficit affects Cubans, worsening their quality of life and the country's economic crisis every day. The energy problems will not have an immediate solution, which increases concern over the possible rise in blackouts in the coming days.