The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) reported this Friday that at 6:25 p.m. on Thursday they had managed to synchronize the western and eastern regions, and in this way the National Electric System (SEN) was operating in an integrated manner, but the situation has not changed radically after the total blackout in which the Island was left after the passage of Hurricane Ian.
“The affectation at 07:00 hours for this cause is 862 MW, of which 557 MW are affected in the provinces from Pinar del Río to Mayabeque, caused by effects associated with the damage of Hurricane Ian,” explains a note disclosed in the Telegram channel of the UNE.
The company estimates that the impact on the electricity service due to a lack of generation capacity “will continue throughout the day from the province of Matanzas to Guantánamo.” Additionally, from Pinar del Río to Mayabeque “the effects on the service will be reduced to the extent that the damage caused by Hurricane Ian is restored.”
At the closing of this information, units of seven of the eight thermoelectric plants in the country were out of service due to breakdowns: the four of the Máximo Gómez (Mariel); the Otto Parellada unit (Havana); two from Ernesto Guevara (Santa Cruz del Norte); the Antonio Guiteras (Matanzas); Unit 4 of Diez de Octubre (Nuevitas); unit 2 of the Lidio Ramón Pérez (Felton) and unit 4 of the Antonio Maceo (Renté).
In distributed generation, 1,076 MW are unavailable due to breakdown and 669 MW are undergoing maintenance.
The UNE estimates “for today’s peak hour an availability of 1,879 MW and a maximum demand of 3,050 MW, for a deficit of 1,171 MW, so if the forecast conditions are maintained, an affectation of 1,246 MW is forecast at this time.”
Havana
According to newspaper reports Tribune of Havanamore than 80 electrical circuits of the 285 that the capital has were restored, which would represent around 40% of the clients, although at the close of this information a Cuban television report spoke of 68% recovered.
The Commercial Director of the Electric Company in the city, engineer Leisy Hernández, said that the municipalities of Playa and Boyeros, as well as La Lisa, appear as those with the greatest technical damages in terms of fallen poles, broken cables and damaged transformers.
As an example of the discomfort generated by this circumstance, exacerbated after Ian’s passage, during the day on Thursday and from social networks, protests were reported by residents in neighborhoods of Havana and provinces such as Holguín.
In the case of the Havana municipality of Cerro, “there was a dialogue with the authorities,” wrote the journalist from Radio Taino Nelson Ricardo Sierra on his Facebook profile.
Cuba has been going through a complex electro-energy situation, marked by the shortage of fuel and the continuous failures of the generating plants. For this reason, for months long blackoutsto which other “unforeseen events” have been added due to breakages and natural phenomena.
These power cuts in the summer period, which usually occur more than once a day and extend even into the early morning hours, have increased social discontent, along with the deep economic crisis that the Island is also suffering.
