The Electric Company of Havana announced in an information note published today that "due to an emergency" on Thursday, there will be a service interruption in two areas of the capital between 10 AM and 2 PM.
"Taking into account the current situation of the National Electric System for today, it is necessary to affect the service, due to emergency, to the customers in the capital associated with Blocks #1 and #2, during the time period from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.," they published on Facebook.
The entity urged the population to "use electricity rationally, in order to reduce consumption in the province, avoid overloads on the networks, and prevent service interruptions."
In a later publication, the Electric Company announced the power outage schedule in Havana from October 24 to 27.
Although the synchronization of the National Electric System (SEN) was achieved on Tuesday after the massive blackout that affected Cubans since Friday the 18th, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, general director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), clarified in statements to television that this did not mean that blackouts would end in Cuba.
"The normal operation regime has begun, which does not mean that there are no disruptions to the service. There is still a deficit in generation capacity, therefore, there will be interruptions in the service, but the system as such is already being operated under normal operating conditions," he said.
"At this moment, the impacts are equitable throughout the country. And the entire system is interconnected. Therefore, the impacts depend on the 'impact strategy' that was in place before the system failure occurred," he concluded.
Although the Cuban government has always tried not to impact Havana, a topic of recurring controversy on social media, the announcement made today by the Electric Company is revealing that the situation regarding fuel and generation is still serious or they have changed their stance regarding blackouts in the capital, which is quite fair considering the severe blackouts that the other provinces have been suffering for months.
The forecast for today at the national level.
The Electric Union (UNE) reported in its update today that yesterday the electric service was affected for 24 hours, and during peak hours, the maximum impact was 1,245 MW at 6:30 p.m.
Additionally, 17 MW were reported affected in Guantánamo due to the passage of the hurricane.
At 7:00 a.m. today, the availability of the National Electric System (SEN) was 1,990 MW, while the demand reached 2,160 MW, resulting in a deficit of 220 MW.
By noon, it is estimated that the capacity deficit will be around 450 MW.
Currently, three thermoelectric units are out of service due to breakdowns: unit 8 of the CTE Mariel, unit 3 of the CTE Cienfuegos, and unit 2 of the CTE Felton.
In addition, unit 2 of the Santa Cruz CTE and unit 5 of the Renté CTE are under maintenance. The limitations in thermal generation total 724 MW.
Regarding distributed generation, 24 power plants are out of service due to fuel supply issues, resulting in a loss of 135 MW.
For peak hours, the commissioning of unit 8 of the CTE Mariel is expected, which will provide 70 MW. With these projections, the availability for peak hour is estimated to be 1990 MW, while the maximum demand could reach 3050 MW, resulting in a deficit of 990 MW.
If these conditions persist, an impact of up to 1060 MW is forecasted during peak demand hours.
The situation in Cuba is so critical that this Wednesday the government announced the extension, until Sunday, October 27, of the suspension of classes at all levels, as well as the suspension of non-essential work activities.
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