The electrical crisis continues unabated in Cuba: after recording a maximum impact of 2,051 MW this Thursday, the Electric Union (UNE) forecasted another 2,007 MW of impact for the peak consumption hours on Friday night.
According to the update from the National Electric Power System (SEN) released this Friday, the service was affected by a capacity deficit for 24 hours on Thursday, and power outages continued throughout the night.
The worst moment of the day occurred at 8:10 p.m., when the impact reached 2,051 MW.
The outlook for this Friday does not provide significant relief either. At 6:00 a.m., the SEN had only 1,113 MW available to meet a demand of 2,686 MW, with 1,575 MW impacted.
For the noon schedule, UNE estimated an impact of around 1,400 MW.
The state-owned company reported that the solar photovoltaic parks produced 5,360 MWh on Thursday and reached a peak capacity of 833 MW during daylight hours, a contribution that, once again, failed to prevent widespread blackouts.
The system is also plagued by numerous breakdowns and maintenance issues. Units 5 and 8 of the Mariel Power Plant, unit 2 of Felton, and unit 6 of Renté remain out of service, while units 3 of Santa Cruz, 5 of Nuevitas, and 5 of Renté are under maintenance.
The lack of fuel remains one of the major issues. The UNE reported 114 distributed generation plants out of service, equivalent to 926 MW, in addition to the Regla and Melones tankers and the Fuel plants in Mariel and Moa. Together, the unavailability attributed to fuel amounts to 1,242 MW.
In addition to that situation, there are another 455 MW of limitations in thermal generation.
For peak hours, the authorities expect to incorporate unit 5 from Mariel and unit 6 from Renté, with 60 MW each.
Even with those inputs, the expected availability would only be 1,233 MW compared to a demand of 3,210 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1,977 MW and an estimated impact of 2,007 MW.
The figures sparked new reactions of frustration among Cubans. “Nah, this is the damn NORMALITY,” wrote a user in the UNE post, reflecting the perception that extreme deficits have ceased to be exceptional and have become part of daily routine.
Another person stated that the 415 circuit in Pinar del Río had been "offline for 48 hours", while an internet user ironically summarized their perception of the immediate future: "Cuba will be affected in aeternum".
Questions also arose regarding the usefulness of official reports given the duration and distribution of the outages. "I don't know why they bother to provide information when they basically do whatever they want here," expressed one user, while another stated that in her area "they don't even provide power."
The current levels do not represent an isolated incident. At the beginning of September, Cuba faced a maximum impact of 2,292 MW, on a day when the anticipated availability for the nighttime peak was only 990 MW.
Weeks earlier, UNE itself had acknowledged that several thermoelectric units could be undergoing maintenance or experiencing breakdowns between September and December, a situation likely to keep disruptions high despite the seasonal reduction in demand.
The repeated figures exceeding 2,000 MW had already sparked strong criticism in August, when users warned that deficits that once seemed extreme were starting to become routine.
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