Although the Antonio Maceo (Renté) thermoelectric plant is expected to enter the system this afternoon, the National Electric System will continue to operate with a high generation deficit that exceeds 1800 MW at night.
Since last week, the Electrical Union (UNE) report stopped specifying the number of non-operational distributed generation plants due to lack of fuel and lubricant, a significant fact to understand the effect of the end of Venezuelan oil for Cuba.
The most recent report estimates that, if the start-up of unit 3 of Renté is completed with 45 MW, availability would reach 1,325 MW compared to a maximum demand of 3,100 MW. Even so, the deficit would be around 1,775 MW and the expected impact would be up to 1,805 MW during peak demand hours.
The panorama hardly changes compared to Saturday, when the maximum impact was 1969 MW at 6:20 in the afternoon. On this Sunday morning, at 6:00, the system had 1,280 MW for a demand of 2,230 MW, with 955 MW already affected.
Breakdowns persist in six strategic thermal units in the country such as unit 5 of the Mariel CTE, unit 3 of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, units 5 and 6 of Nuevitas, unit 2 of Felton and units 3 and 6 of the Antonio Maceo (Renté).
Added to this are scheduled maintenance works in unit 2 of the Santa Cruz CTE and in unit 4 of the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant, which further reduces the available capacity.
Together, these effects keep some 450 MW of thermal generation out of the system, limiting the possibility of alleviating blackouts even with the contribution of renewable sources.
Up to 15 hours without electricity in Havana
In the capital, the electrical service had a peak deficit yesterday of 448 MW around 7:00 p.m., which kept most of the circuits off for up to 15 hours.
The Electric Company of Havana reported that it was not possible to restore the supply as planned due to “the low availability of base generation” of the SEN, which forced additional cuts to be applied by emergency means.
At the close of today’s report, three blocks and 80 MW remained out of service under emergency regime, for a total of 183 MW affected.
The entity warned that, if the availability conditions of the SEN are not improved, non-compliance with the planned programming could be repeated and the effects could extend to new blocks and circuits during the next few hours.
