MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban Electric Union (UNE) advertisement that blackouts will simultaneously cover 39% of the national territory this Wednesday, which marks the greatest disruption to the electrical service in the last three months.
In your daily partThe state-owned company said that the electricity supply was affected throughout the day on Wednesday and that, for the moment, “the problem has not been resolved,” which means that the blackouts extended from Wednesday to Thursday.
The power outages are due to a lack of generation capacity, a lack of fuel and breakdowns in seven units of the seven terrestrial thermal power plants (CTE) currently in operation.
Specifically, for this Thursday the company estimates a maximum electricity generation capacity of 2,115 megawatts (MW) and a demand of up to 3,350 MW, for a deficit of 1,235 MW.
However, the impact (what will actually be disconnected) will reach 1,305 MW on August 22, UNE said.
Currently, power cuts affect all provinces (although they are worse outside of Havana) and have reached up to 10 hours a day twice a day (around 20 hours in total).
In May of this year, the Cuban ruler, Miguel Diaz-Canelsaid the country would experience “prolonged” power outages until June due to maintenance work on the energy system. This measure, according to authorities, seeks to reduce interruptions during the months of July and August, when consumption is highest.
“We are going to have extended maintenance until the month of June to minimize the inconvenience of blackouts in the summer, especially in the months of July and August,” said Díaz-Canel in the sixth episode of his podcast From the Presidency. The president made it clear that the total absence of blackouts cannot be guaranteed: “We cannot commit to the absence of blackouts. Given the current conditions of the system, such a commitment is not possible now,” he said.
The blackouts, which affected more than a third of the population in June, further complicate the country’s already tense energy situation. Power cuts affect all provinces, reaching up to ten hours a day, even in Havanawhere “scheduled” blackouts are implemented by neighborhood, lasting approximately eight hours.
These blackouts not only deteriorate the economic performance of Cubawhich has been mired in a serious crisis for years, but have also been the trigger for anti-government protests. The most notable ones occurred on July 11, 2021the largest in decades, and most recently on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba and other locations.
