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The Electric Union (UNE) forecasts a peak impact of 1,395 MW this Sunday, with a barely available capacity of 1,735 MW against a maximum demand of 3,100 MW, according to the official report from the National Electric System published this morning.
The deterioration came after the service was interrupted on Saturday for 17 hours and 45 minutes, with continuous impact throughout the night. The peak impact the previous day reached 1,461 MW at 8:10 PM, worsened by the emergency shutdown of unit 4 of the CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.
At 6:30 AM on this Sunday, the system availability was 1,680 MW compared to a demand of 2,380 MW, with 990 MW already affected at that time. By noon, it was estimated that the impact would be 950 MW.
The accumulated breakdowns explain the worsening situation: the unit 2 of the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna power plant, unit 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes power plant, unit 2 of the Felton power plant, and units 3 and 5 of the Renté power plant are out of service.
Additionally, units 5 of the Mariel CTE, 6 of the Renté CTE, and 5 of the Nuevitas CTE are under maintenance. The limitations in thermal generation amount to 335 MW out of service.
As the only partial relief, the 54 new photovoltaic solar parks contributed 3,978 MWh on Saturday, with a maximum power output of 641 MW during daylight hours. However, the lack of large-scale battery storage prevents that generation from meeting nighttime demand.
For the peak hours this Sunday, the UNE anticipates the entry of unit 3 of the CTE Renté with 55 MW, which is currently in the startup process; however, this contribution is insufficient to cover the projected deficit.
The situation has sparked indignation among Cubans on social media. "Regionalists, Havana is on fire 24/7 and the rest treat us like old junk," wrote one user. Another pointed out: "We're already increasing the deficit as the minister said at the end of the month, and once again, long hours."
The discontent over preferential treatment toward the capital is growing.
While Havana had been accumulating days without blackouts due to a deficit in generation, a user from Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, reported power cuts from five in the afternoon until two in the morning, with another interruption occurring before seven in the morning.
This Sunday is part of an electricity crisis that has exceeded a deficit of 1,300 MW over several days in April.
The highest deficit of the month was recorded on April 1 with 1,945 MW, and on April 16, 62% of the national territory was without power simultaneously, leaving more than 200,000 Cubans without access to drinking water.
The structural cause is the critical shortage of fuel: Cuba went four months without receiving crude oil imports and only obtained a Russian shipment that, according to the Minister of Energy Vicente de la O Levy, would last “until the end of this month”.
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