Cuba faces another day of severe blackouts this Friday; according to the informative note from the Electric Union, the forecast for the nighttime peak hour indicates a shortfall of 2,340 MW, with a supply of only 940 MW against a projected maximum demand of 3,250 MW.
The night before was no better: the electric service was compromised for 24 hours, including the entire early morning, and the actual maximum outage reached 2,240 MW at 11:20 PM.
Several thermoelectric units remain out of service. The following units are currently offline: Unit 6 of the Máximo Gómez thermoelectric plant (Mariel), Units 1 and 2 of the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna plant (Santa Cruz), Unit 4 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes plant, and Unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez plant (Felton).
Unit 3 of Ernesto Guevara De La Serna, Units 5 and 6 of Antonio Maceo (Renté), and Unit 5 of Diez de Octubre (Nuevitas) are under maintenance.
This situation is compounded by the fact that 106 distributed generation plants are inactive due to a lack of fuel, along with the Patana de Regla, the Patana de Melones, the Mariel Fuel Plant, and the Moa Fuel Plant.
The 54 photovoltaic solar parks generated 3,697 MW/hour on Thursday, with a maximum output of 575 MW, a contribution that proves insufficient to cover the nighttime deficit, when demand peaks.
This Friday's events take place during a week of historic figures. On Tuesday, Cuba broke its own record for blackouts by registering a real impact of 2,411 MW at 10:30 PM, surpassing the previous maximum of 2,380 MW from July 29.
Between August 2 and August 3, the National Electric System experienced two total outages in less than 48 hours, marking the sixth and seventh nationwide blackouts of the year.
The causes are structural and chronic: a lack of fuel oil and diesel, extreme deterioration of thermal power plants, and a shortage of spare parts.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged before the National Assembly that "there are Cuban communities that have been without electricity for up to 105 days."
The consequences for the population are devastating: power outages lasting up to 20 and 24 hours daily, interruption of water pumping, inability to preserve food, and unbearable heat in homes.
Cubans have had to sleep on the Malecón in Havana to escape the high temperatures.
Desperation has overflowed into the streets. On Wednesday, protests erupted in Marianao, La Lisa, El Cerro, San José de Mayabeque, and Santiago de Cuba, directly related to the power outages.
In July, the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,415 protests and critical expressions, the highest monthly figure in its history, with 72 in-person demonstrations.
In light of this situation, the regime's response has been limited to statements. Following the latest total shutdown, Minister De la O Levy assured that the authorities were working with "diligence and commitment," without announcing any immediate viable solutions.
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