Cuba is experiencing another day of energy emergency. On Tuesday, June 25, the Electric Union (UNE) reported that the country faced power outages throughout all hours of the previous day and the early morning today, reaching a maximum impact of 1,882 MW at 21:50, coinciding with peak demand time.
The state-owned company justified this new surge in blackouts by the non-commissioning of Unit 1 of the Santa Cruz CTE, which disrupted the planned schedules. Meanwhile, citizens continue to suffer the consequences of a collapsed National Electric System (SEN), where neither thermal generation nor renewable sources meet the basic demand.
Current status of the SEN
According to the informational note, at 7:00 a.m. today, the availability of the SEN was 1,805 MW against a demand of 3,070 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,291 MW.
By noon, a shortfall of 1,350 MW is expected, and for the peak evening hours, availability is predicted to be barely half of the anticipated demand, which will result in an estimated deficit of 1,765 MW and an impact of up to 1,835 MW.
The causes are multiple: three thermal units out of service due to breakdowns (Santa Cruz 1, Felton 2, Renté 6), three more under maintenance (Santa Cruz 2, Cienfuegos 4, Renté 5), thermal limitations of 374 MW, and a severe lack of fuel and lubricants that keeps 97 distributed generation plants (767 MW) inactive and adds another 56 MW due to oil shortages.
Havana is also in the dark
The Electric Company of Havana has announced its blackout schedule for today, June 25. The affected blocks will be:
- B5: from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
- B2: from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- B1: from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- B4: from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- B3: from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
It is also noted that, if necessary, the outages will extend past midnight, with rotating blocks lasting one hour, starting with the circuits that were not affected during the day.
Without visible hope
While officials repeat technical explanations, complaints on social media are rising about blackouts lasting over 24 hours, spoiled food, children unable to sleep, and entire neighborhoods in darkness. The only constant is the deterioration: each day brings more blackouts, greater shortages, and fewer answers.
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