Cuban authorities acknowledged that the lack of diesel fuel in distributed generation is the main cause of the blackouts in Cuba this weekend.
"The main issue is that we have distributed generation offline due to a lack of fuel. We do not have diesel fuel for distributed generation, and this affects its availability," admitted Lázaro Guerra Hernández on national television, the Director General of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Additionally, there are four thermal power units that are out of service and two under maintenance, he added.
Blackouts in Cuba
The Cuban electrical system is experiencing a new episode of widespread collapse this Monday, with prolonged blackouts across the country and reports of power outages exceeding 1,900 megawatts (MW) during peak hours, according to the official report from the Electric Union (UNE).
The Electric Company of Havana confirmed that the capital was practically left in the dark since 6:39 p.m. on Sunday, with a maximum impact of 359 MW at 6:20 p.m., which halted five of the six distribution blocks.
The complete restoration of the service was achieved after 12:06 AM on Sunday, after more than six hours of continuous interruption.
In its , the company acknowledged that “it was not possible to meet the scheduled programming” due to low base generation availability, and that an additional 100 MW of emergency power was affected.
Although at the end of their report there were no active outages, they warned that if the availability of the National Electric System (SEN) does not improve, unplanned blackouts could occur, affecting blocks and circuits "due to emergencies."
According to the national report from this Monday, the SEN had a capacity of 1,360 MW against a demand of 2,150 MW, resulting in an initial deficit of 750 MW that progressively increased.
During peak hours, an impact of 1,905 MW is anticipated, resulting from breakdowns at the thermal power plants of Mariel, Felton, Antonio Maceo, and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, as well as the lack of fuel that keeps more than 100 distributed plants out of service.
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