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Cuba faces one of the most critical days of the year regarding electrical outages this Monday, with a generation deficit exceeding 1,800 megawatts (MW) during peak hours, according to official data from the Electric Union (UNE).
En su última informative note, la empresa estatal informó que la víspera el servicio se vio afectado durante las 24 horas y la situación se ha mantenido durante la madrugada de hoy, con una disponibilidad de apenas 1,690 MW frente a una demanda de 3,100 MW, con 1,430 MW afectados por déficit de capacidad.
The situation worsened on Monday night when the disruption peaked at 1,749 MW at 9:40 p.m., even exceeding initial forecasts, due to the non-operation of Unit 5 at the Renté thermoelectric plant. This figure did not coincide with peak demand time, indicating the increasing instability of the system.
Currently, several generating units are out of service due to malfunctions, including unit 1 of the Santa Cruz Power Plant, units 3, 5, and 6 of the Renté Power Plant, and unit 2 of the Felton Power Plant. Additionally, maintenance work is being carried out on unit 2 of Santa Cruz and unit 4 of the Cienfuegos Power Plant.
The limitations due to fuel shortages also play a role: 52 distributed generation plants are not operating for this reason, and another 370 MW are unavailable due to a lack of lubricants.
In the peak nighttime hours, a demand of 3,750 MW is expected, while the estimated generation capacity will barely reach 1,930 MW, which will result in an overall shortfall of nearly 1,900 MW across the country.
In Havana, the blackouts continue. The provincial Electric Company reported on its social media that the outage began at 10:04 p.m. on Monday, with an impact of 238 MW. As of the time of this report, service has still not been restored in some areas.
Users in the capital will face extensive power outages in blocks this Monday, September 2, and the early hours of Tuesday, September 3, according to the schedule published by the Electric Company.
The B6 Block will be the most affected, with 10 and a half hours without service, followed by the B2 Block with 9 and a half hours of blackout. The B3 Block will also be impacted with 7 and a half hours, the B4 Block with 6 and a half hours, and the B5 Block with 6 hours of interruptions.
The B1 Block remains as a reserve block, although it could be impacted if demand exceeds expectations. Officials assure that the disruptions will continue to depend on the conditions of the SEN, which is increasingly pressured by resource shortages and technical failures.
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