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The Electric Company of Matanzas reported this Saturday that the province continues to face a scenario of severe electricity restrictions, with circuits experiencing over 30 continuous hours of blackout, amidst a structural deficit of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN).
According to the report published by the official newspaper Girón on its Facebook page, at 11:40 a.m., the western province was at “maximum reducible” with 82 MW affected, due to a national demand that reached 2,060 MW.
The situation arises in the context of multiple breakdowns and maintenance work at the country's thermal power plants.
Among the main incidents are the breakdown of unit 5 at the Mariel thermal power plant (CTE) in Artemisa, unit 2 at the Santa Cruz del Norte CTE in Mayabeque; unit 2 at the Felton CTE in Holguín, and units 5 and 6 at the Antonio Maceo CTE (Renté) in Santiago de Cuba.
Additionally, Unit 6 of the Mariel Thermal Power Plant, Unit 5 of the Nuevitas Thermal Power Plant in Camagüey, and Unit 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Thermal Power Plant in Cienfuegos are undergoing maintenance. In thermal generation alone, the limitations amount to 420 MW out of service, as specified this Sunday in the Informative Note from Unión Eléctrica regarding the status of the SEN.
Nationwide, the maximum impact on Saturday was 1,718 MW at 7:10 p.m. For this March 1st, the availability of the SEN at 6:00 a.m. was 1,257 MW compared to a demand of 2,203 MW, with 775 MW already affected at that time.
For the nighttime peak this Sunday, a capacity of 1,532 MW is forecasted against an estimated demand of 3,180 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,648 MW and a possible impact of 1,678 MW.
The authorities plan to incorporate distributed generation to partially alleviate the situation, including the fuel plant in Mariel with 105 MW, the Melones barge with 45 MW, four engines from the Regla barge (Havana) with 35 MW, and six fuel engines from Moa (Holguín) with 90 MW.
Meanwhile, in the comments posted on the Girón newspaper's page, numerous users questioned the distribution of the blackouts.
Residents of Cárdenas reported outages lasting up to 48 hours with only four hours of service, and called for greater fairness in the circuit rotation.
Others pointed out that Varadero, despite the low hotel occupancy, continues to have stable electricity service, while areas like Jagüey Grande reported up to 47 hours and 30 minutes without electricity.
In response to the criticism, the media explained that the 3x6 rotation circuits are not included in the provincial demand because their function is to maintain stability in the SEN, which is considered "very fragile" at this time, and that only two substations in the province accept the component that derives the necessary frequency for that scheme.
The national report also highlighted that the 51 new photovoltaic solar parks generated 4,647 MWh on Saturday, with a peak power of 802 MW at noon.
However, that contribution has not succeeded in offsetting the thermal collapse nor preventing prolonged disruptions in provinces like Matanzas, where the population, just like elsewhere in the country, is facing continuous outages amid an energy landscape that shows no immediate signs of stabilization.
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