Cuba faces another Sunday marked by blackouts, with an impact that could reach 2,193 MW during peak demand hours, while the National Electric Power System (SEN) continues to suffer from failures, maintenance, and significant limitations in thermal generation.
The Electric Union (UNE) reported this Sunday that during the previous day the service was affected by a capacity deficit for 24 hours and that the outages continued throughout the night. The maximum impact on Saturday reached 2,281 MW at 10:00 PM.
The outlook for this Sunday also started off complicated. At 6:00 AM, the country had only 1,087 MW available against a demand of 2,768 MW, while the reported impact was 1,725 MW. By midday, the UNE estimated that about 1,500 MW were affected.
The situation could worsen again at night. At peak consumption times, the state-owned company estimates that availability will remain at 1,087 MW, while demand will rise to 3,250 MW. The difference leaves an estimated deficit of 2,163 MW and a projected impact of 2,193 MW.
The official report indicates that the unit 6 of the CTE Mariel, unit 6 of Nuevitas, and unit 2 of Felton remain out of order.
This is in addition to the maintenance of Unit 3 in Santa Cruz, Unit 5 in Nuevitas, and Units 5 and 6 in Renté, as thermal generation limitations account for another 612 MW.
The photovoltaic solar parks produced 5,406 MWh on Saturday and reached a maximum power of 840 MW during peak radiation hours, a contribution that once again proves insufficient to prevent disruptions.
The new forecast unleashed another wave of criticism in the UNE's own publication. «This is unprecedented in history, what a miserable life we are living», lamented one person.
Another summed up the situation with a similar phrase: "What a miserable life".
Other users questioned why deficits exceeding 2,000 MW have practically become routine. «In the past, a deficit of 1,500 would set off alarms, and now I realize that having more than 2,000 MW in deficit has become routine», wrote an internet user, who described the prolonged outages as "inhuman" and asked "how much longer" this situation will continue.
The entire country is shut down, noted another reaction.
“Every day it's the same blah, blah, blah. Aren't you tired? Enough already, nobody believes you. Find solutions, that's what you're there for, and if you don't have any, what are you doing there?”, questioned another user.
The crisis has reached even more severe levels this summer. On August 5th, the actual impact hit a record of 2,411 MW, after the service was once again compromised for 24 hours due to a lack of generation capacity.
The authorities themselves have acknowledged that there is no immediate solution.
At the end of July, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, admitted that “the road is long” to address the crisis and acknowledged that the country lacks the necessary fuel to stabilize the electrical system.
The official even acknowledged before the National Assembly that there are communities that have gone up to 105 consecutive days without electricity, while assuring that "there is no energy to distribute."
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