The start of the week brings little relief for Cubans as the ongoing power supply crisis continues unabated. On Monday, the National Electric Union (UNE) announced that the energy generation shortfall has exceeded 1,000 megawatts (MW).
Electricity services were initially disrupted on Sunday at 7:10 am, only to be restored by 2:43 am on Monday. However, the outages resumed shortly after at 5:19 am, highlighting the persistent instability within the island's electrical grid.
Unforeseen Challenges Exacerbate the Crisis
According to a statement released by the UNE on Facebook, the most significant generation shortfall occurred at 7:20 pm, peaking at 1,147 MW. Additionally, Guantánamo experienced a 7 MW disruption due to the aftermath of Hurricane Oscar, with the country still assessing the full extent of the damage.
The situation was further complicated by the unexpected shutdown of Unit 6 at the Mariel Thermoelectric Plant, as reported in their update.
Current Supply and Demand Imbalance
As of Monday morning at 7:00 am, the National Electroenergetic System had an available capacity of 1,980 MW, while demand reached 2,200 MW, leaving a 235 MW deficit due to capacity shortages. It is anticipated that by midday, the shortfall could rise to 550 MW.
The UNE indicated that several units are offline due to technical issues, including Unit 3 at the Santa Cruz Thermoelectric Plant, Unit 3 at Cienfuegos, and Unit 2 at Felton. Additionally, maintenance is ongoing for Unit 2 at Santa Cruz and Unit 5 at Renté.
Thermal and Distributed Generation Struggles
The limitations in thermal power generation amount to 538 MW. Furthermore, 64 distributed generation plants are not operational due to fuel shortages, resulting in 456 MW of inactive power. However, there is hope that around 80 MW could be recovered from these plants by peak hours.
Projections indicate that available power will reach 2,060 MW against a maximum estimated demand of 3,050 MW, leading to a 990 MW deficit. If these conditions persist, the shortfall during peak hours could reach 1,060 MW, further complicating Cuba's power supply issues.
This forecast underscores the outdated and inadequate service quality provided by the UNE, which has become particularly evident following the recent collapse of the National Electroenergetic System that plunged much of the island into darkness.