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Cuba wakes up this Tuesday to another day of severe blackouts. According to the informative note from the Electric Union, at 6:00 AM the availability of the National Electric System was only 1,150 MW against a demand of 2,700 MW, with 1,550 MW affected since dawn.
The outlook for the night peak period is even more bleak. The state entity projects an availability of 1,355 MW against a maximum demand of 3,200 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,845 MW and an estimated impact of 1,875 MW.
The journey on Monday was equally devastating. "Yesterday, service was impacted due to a capacity deficit for 24 hours, and the impact continued throughout the early morning hours," states the Electric Union. The highest recorded impact was 2,079 MW at 9:40 PM.
Among the main causes of the deficit are breakdowns in Unit 1 of the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna Thermal Power Plant, Unit 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Thermal Power Plant, Unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez Thermal Power Plant, and Units 3 and 5 of the Antonio Maceo Thermal Power Plant.
In addition, there are units under maintenance at the CTE Mariel, CTE Renté, and CTE Nuevitas, with 405 MW out of service due to limitations in thermal generation.
To help alleviate the nighttime peak, Unión Eléctrica is anticipating the integration of Unit 1 from the Santa Cruz Thermal Power Plant, which is in the startup process with 60 MW, and Unit 4 from the Cienfuegos Thermal Power Plant, which has 145 MW.
The 54 photovoltaic solar parks contributed 3,138 MWh on Monday, with a peak power of 482 MW at noon. However, this source does not operate during the nighttime peak hours, which is precisely when the largest deficits occur.
The crisis this Tuesday is part of a spiral of collapses that has intensified throughout May. On May 14, the shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant —its ninth failure so far in 2026— caused a partial collapse of the system from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo, with blackouts lasting up to 22 hours a day in Havana.
The Guiteras plant resynchronized to the system on Sunday at 11:06 PM, contributing about 200 MW, but its re-entry has not been enough to reverse the structural deficit that the island is experiencing.
The social impact is profound. The shortage of electricity leads to water cuts due to a lack of pumping, affecting schools, hospitals, and businesses, along with a widespread deterioration in the quality of life.
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