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The National Electric System (SEN) of Cuba once again faced a day marked by prolonged blackouts and a significant generation deficit on Saturday, January 18, according to a statement published by the Electric Union on Facebook.
According to the official report, the day before, the electricity service was affected for 24 hours. The peak reached due to a capacity generation deficit was 1,995 megawatts (MW) at 6:40 PM, a value higher than what had been forecasted.
The company explained that this happened because Unit 1 of the Santa Cruz CTE and the Fuel Moa site were out of service.
This Sunday, at 6:00 am, the system availability was 1,380 MW, while the demand reached 2,250 MW, resulting in an immediate shortfall of 906 MW.
For the average schedule, an even higher value is estimated, at 1,000 MW.
Incidents at thermal power plants
The Electric Union reported that four key units in the country are out of service due to breakdowns at the Mariel, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Felton, and Antonio Maceo power plants.
These failures are compounded by maintenance work in two blocks of the Santa Cruz and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes power plants.
Additionally, the system has limitations in thermal generation that keep 625 MW offline, which significantly reduces the actual capacity of the SEN to meet the country's demand.
Lack of fuel and lubricants
The situation is worsening due to the shortage of essential supplies.
The UNE reported that 95 distributed generation plants are out of service, resulting in an impact of 915 MW.
Additionally, the Melones plant has 36 MW unavailable, and the Regla plant has 46 MW offline.
It was also reported that there are 155 MW specifically affected by a lack of lubricant, a technical issue that prevents the normal operation of several equipment.
Together, all these factors related to fuel and lubricants account for a total impact of 1,152 MW.
Forecast for peak hours
During peak hours, the entry of the Regla Patana motors is expected to contribute 46 MW.
With this reinforcement, a capacity of 1,426 MW is expected against a maximum estimated demand of 3,150 MW, which would result in a deficit of 1,724 MW.
If current conditions persist, the projected impact at peak would be 1,754 MW.
Contribution of solar parks
The Electric Union reported that the energy production from the 37 new solar photovoltaic parks was 2,543 megawatt-hours (MWh), with a maximum power output of 563 MW during peak hours.
Situation in Havana
For its part, the Electric Company of Havana explained that the day before, the service was affected for 12 hours and 45 minutes.
The maximum impact in the capital was 412 MW at 6:20 PM, and total restoration occurred at 2:10 AM.
The entity indicated that, due to the low availability of base generation, it was not possible to meet the reported schedule, resulting in an impact of 110 MW of emergency capacity.
At the end of the note, block 3 was affected by a deficit, and it was warned that if the conditions of the SEN do not improve, it will not be possible to meet the schedule, and more blocks and circuits will be affected due to emergency situations.
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