The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) announced for this Monday that the electricity generation deficit will reach 265 megawatts (MW) during the peak demand hours, the highest index registered during the last 25 days.
In this way, it is highly probable that in that time slot power outagesfacts that had been significantly reduced throughout the month of December after a serious and prolonged energy crisis, aggravated in September by the passage of Hurricane Ian.
According to the Une report, there were no supply cuts this Sunday and the situation is expected to continue throughout the daytime on Monday.
The blackouts had almost disappeared during the last two weeks of 2022, but in the first days of January isolated cases occurred again, although far from the frequency and duration recorded in the previous months, the agency highlights. Eph.
The forecast between the generation capacity and the demand for the day, during the so-called peak hours (around 7:00 pm), is the highest since last December 15, adds the newspaper.
Although Cuba closed 2022 without scheduled cuts in the electricity supply, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, recently announced that between the months of January and April there would be a decrease in the availability of electricity due to scheduled repairs in the plants. of generation.
The official explained that the situation is due to a plan whose purpose is to arrive with greater generation capacities in the summer months, when there is generally a notable growth in demand due to high temperatures.
Units eight of the Mariel Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE), unit one of the CTE Santa Cruz, unit three of the CTE Cienfuegos, unit six of the CTE Nuevitas, and units four and five of Renté are currently undergoing maintenance.
In addition, units six and seven of Mariel, four of Nuevitas, unit two of Felton and unit three of CTE Renté are out of service due to breakdowns.
To this is added that the thermal plants in operation have limitations to generate 348 MW, and that between breakages and maintenance, the distributed generation system stops producing another 1322 MW.
The Cuban authorities attribute the energy crisis mainly to breakages and failures in the obsolete thermoelectric plants, which have not received the necessary maintenance. Fuel shortages and, to a lesser extent, scheduled maintenance are also noted.
Most of the country’s eight land-based generating plants have been operating for more than 40 years, when the average utility age is around 30 years, he recalls. efe.
The cuts in the electricity supply during almost all of 2022 have significantly affected the economy and the lives of Cubans. It is one of the main problems facing the executive led by Miguel Díaz-Canel.
These difficulties, in the midst of another prolonged and deep economic crisis that was aggravated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, greater sanctions from the United States administration, and the ineffectiveness of measures adopted by the government to overcome the complex situation, motivated in July 2021 the largest social protests on the Island in decades.
Efe/OnCuba.
