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La Unión Eléctrica (UNE) published its daily report this Saturday with figures that, in the context of the Cuban electrical disaster, sound almost like good news: a projected deficit of 1,290 MW for the nighttime peak hours, compared to the 1,591 MW on Friday and the 1,671 MW on Wednesday.
At 6:00 am this Saturday, the availability of the National Electric System (SEN) was 1,570 MW against a demand of 2,500 MW, with 932 MW already impacted since the early morning.
For the nighttime peak, the state entity forecasts a capacity of 1,810 MW, a demand of 3,100 MW, and an estimated impact of 1,320 MW, thanks to the anticipated addition of five engines from the Moa Fuel Site (60 MW), unit 6 of the Mariel thermoelectric plant (80 MW), unit 1 of the Santa Cruz thermoelectric plant (60 MW), and unit 4 of Energás Varadero (40 MW).
The relative improvement is attributed, according to comments on social media, to the arrival of Russian fuel received at the end of March, which allowed for the reactivation of distributed generation.
Four blocks from the thermoelectric plants Mariel, Ernesto Guevara, Antonio Maceo, and Felton are still out of service due to thermal generation constraints, resulting in an additional 367 MW offline.
Cubans did not take long to react on the Facebook page of UNE, and they did so with a mix of disbelief and irony that comes only from years of blackouts.
"Did the availability increase by 600 MW overnight?" a user asked skeptically.
"I don't believe those numbers because I don't see any light; they're very funny, and I'm not in the mood for jokes," said a young woman.
"If you're not from Havana, don't even dream of seeing the change," stated a resident of Santiago.
"Well, I haven't noticed, we are still experiencing a blackout here in Matanzas since yesterday," a resident in Varadero said.
"Get ready for next week, this is really strange," commented a Habanero.
"OMG, the Electric Union and its magic wand!" scoffed a mother.
The energy crisis goes far beyond electricity. As reported on Wednesday by Abel Fernández Díaz, director of the Havana Water Supply, more than 200,000 residents of Havana -about 11% of the capital's population- lack regular access to drinking water due to the direct consequences of power outages.
The ruler Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged that the country absolutely lacks fuel for almost everything, despite the arrival at the end of March of a shipment of Russian fuel.
Regarding healthcare, the UN confirmed that two million people are affected, with 96,000 surgeries pending.
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