The Electrical Union reports a deficit of more than 1,500 MW for peak hours, while several key thermoelectric plants remain out of service.
MADRID, Spain-. The energy crisis in Cuba worsened again this Tuesday after a breakdown in units 3, 4 and 6 of the Energás Jaruco plant, in Mayabeque, which left large areas of the capital and several provinces of the country without electricity service.
According to an official statement from the Havana Electric Companythe unplanned output of these units was caused by an “emergency free path” after the feedwater pump tripped, which forced 163 MW of load to be disconnected immediately.
Just a week ago the UNE had reported the disconnection of Unit 6 of Energás Jaruco, due to the presence of “sargassum in the entrance channel of BC-4705.”
The Electrical Union of Cuba (UNE) recognized in its information note this Tuesday that the maximum impact recorded during the day of October 14 was 1,914 MW, a figure that far exceeded what was planned. The agency attributed the increase in the deficit to the breakdown of the turbines at Energás Jaruco and other failures in key thermal plants.
At 6:00 in the morning of this October 15the availability of the National Electrical System was 1,774 MW, compared to a demand of 2,864 MW, which generated a deficit of 1,085 MW and impacts throughout the country. The UNE predicts that during peak hours the gap will grow to 1,566 MW, which would imply prolonged blackouts in large sectors of the population.
Among the main technical incidents are breakdowns in Unit 2 of the Felton thermoelectric plant, Unit 8 of Mariel, Unit 5 of Diez de Octubre and Unit 3 of Renté. In addition, other plants remain out of service due to scheduled maintenance and thermal limitations.
Added to this is a serious shortage of fuel and lubricants: 50 distributed generation plants are stopped (341 MW) and another 156 MW are not available due to lack of inputs, as UNE itself acknowledged.
Despite the official discourse on increasing photovoltaic capacity, the contribution of the country’s 32 solar parks—with 549 MW at their peak—is insufficient to cover the structural deficit, especially at night, when demand increases.
Blackouts of more than 20 hours have become daily in numerous areas of the country, generating a strong social unrest in a context of widespread shortages, inflation and deterioration of basic services.
