The Electric Union (UNE) attributed the massive blackout that occurred in Cuba this week to a fuel shortage caused by the "energy blockade" by the United States, which, according to authorities, prevents the arrival of ships carrying petroleum products.
Authorities from the electrical sector reported on official television that the National Electrical System (SEN) has once again been interconnected from Pinar del Río to Guantánamo at 5:01 a.m. on Thursday, although they acknowledged that the grid still operates at low generation capacity.
The General Director of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, explained that the connection was achieved through the 110 kilovolt networks, while the 220 kilovolt network remains out of service due to the limited level of available generation.
According to the report broadcast by the Cuban News Channel from the headquarters of the UNE, the immediate priority has been to distribute the limited electricity available to ensure the operation of essential services, especially hospitals across the country.
The authorities indicated that the interconnected system allows for the distribution of existing generation among the provinces to support these vital centers.
Guerra explained that the partial disconnection of the system occurred after the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest generating plant in the country, but emphasized that the structural problem is the lack of fuel.
According to what was pointed out, a large part of the distributed generation is halted due to the lack of diesel or fuel, while the floating plants located in Mariel and Moa also remain out of service for the same reason.
The official claimed that if there had been sufficient fuel, the shutdown of the Guiteras would not have caused a system failure from Camagüey to Pinar del Río.
In his explanation, he stated that the U.S. government's sanctions represent the "root cause" of the energy deficit, as they prevent ships carrying fuels and their derivatives from reaching Cuban ports.
Meanwhile, technicians are working at the Antonio Guiteras power plant to repair the malfunction that led to its shutdown and to reintegrate it into the system as quickly as possible.
At the same time, work crews are carrying out efforts to restore generation capabilities at other plants in the country, including the Diez de Octubre thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas, the Antonio Maceo plant in Santiago de Cuba, and the Máximo Gómez Báez plant in Mariel, it was reported.
The company Energas, with its three generation plants, was also key in the initial recovery process of the system, providing electricity to start up large generation units and restore service in areas that had been completely without power.
However, authorities acknowledge that the Cuban SEN continues to operate under fragile conditions and with limited capacity.
The blackout occurs amid an increasingly deepening energy crisis. For this Friday, the UNE projected an impact of 2,075 MW during the nighttime peak, with only 1,015 MW available against an estimated demand of 3,050 MW, which could leave more than two-thirds of the country without electricity during peak consumption hours.
The situation worsened after the partial collapse of the National Electric System on Wednesday, when a pipe rupture in the Guiteras boiler led to its unexpected shutdown at 12:41 p.m. This resulted in a massive blackout from Camagüey to Pinar del Río, leaving millions of people without service, including much of Havana.
Although the system reconnected at 5:01 a.m. on Thursday, the recovery has been slow and with an unstable supply.
The deterioration of the SEN is due to structural problems that have accumulated over decades. The country's main thermal power plants, built between the 1960s and 1970s, operate with significant wear and tear, minimal maintenance, and chronic fuel shortages.
Although the government has invested in the expansion of solar energy, photovoltaic parks only provide around 800 MW during sunlight hours, a figure that is insufficient to meet nighttime demand in a system that has been experiencing deficits close to 2,000 MW for several months.
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