The entry yesterday of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, with 230 stable megawatts after a technical stoppage of several days, gives a break to the National Electric System, but the blackouts continue without respite.
The Electrical Union anticipates for today a deficit of 1,279 MW at night, which will bring blackouts of up to 1,349 MW and will leave almost half of the country without service. According to the daily report, the available capacity for a maximum demand of 3 thousand MW barely reaches 1,721 MW.
“Loads have been added to the eastern part of the country, which increases the demand for the National Electric System,” explained today on national television Lázaro Guerra Hernández, general director of electricity of the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
According to the expert, there is also “the coincidence, at this time of year, of lighting with cooking food, which triggers demand, although in a short period of time.”
Added to this gap is the persistent crisis in the east, where 140 MW are still out due to damage to distribution networks caused by Hurricane Melissa a couple of weeks ago.
Santiago de Cuba, the second province in population, keeps 60% of its territory in darkness, a situation that the Government describes as “complex and difficult.” The Electrical Union indicated that the objective now is to energize all the circuits of the provincial capital and the municipal capitals of Santiago de Cuba starting this Friday.
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“To achieve this goal, intense work has been planned that should allow the complete recovery of the electrical service in the capital municipality within a period of seven days,” adds the company.
Meanwhile, Guantánamo already accumulates more than 98% of electricity recovery, Granma 70% of recovery of the electrical infrastructure (about 31 thousand clients still without service), meanwhile, Holguín reaches 86.2% of clients with electricity (52 thousand pending clients in the municipalities of Mayarí, Urbano Noris, Frank País and Gibara).
In the country, the panorama is complicated with breakdowns in units 5 and 6 of Renté – which will not enter today – and maintenance in units 2 of Santa Cruz and 4 of Cienfuegos. Added to this are 80 distributed generation engines stopped due to a shortage of diesel, fuel oil or lubricant, subtracting another 40% of the energy mix.
