According to the technical director of the Electric Union (UNE), Lázaro Guerra, in the early hours of this Saturday, technicians and specialized forces managed to cover to the demand for the service from Matanzas (west) to Guantánamo (east), a remarkable fact after the total blackout experienced after the passage of Hurricane Ian.
Currently the number of customers without service, given the effects on the network by the winds that reached about 200 km / h, amounts to 515 thousand 976, 129 thousand 099 less than this Friday night as noted the agency Latin Press (PL).
According to the specialist, interviewed by Cuban radio and television, in the case of Pinar del Río in the last few hours the service was brought to more than three thousand consumers, which means 1.57% coverage. The greatest efforts are concentrated in this province, since the climatic event damaged more than 3,700 poles and 451 transformers.
The report points out that in Artemisa coverage grew to 35.95%, and in Havana, 82.05% of clients had already been served. Mayabeque and Isla de la Juventud present a more favorable scenario, with 99.34% electricity coverage the first, and the second with 97.62%. These territories, those affected by Ian, receive the support of brigades from the rest of the country.
The technical director of the UNE explained that for this Saturday an affectation of 400 MW is expected, during daytime hours, and in maximum demand it will be 807 MW, which implies an affectation throughout the country.
He reported that today unit number three of Santa Cruz (CTE Ernesto Guevara) was added to the generation, and unit one should be incorporated for the peak demand schedule, as part of the strategy to increase generation and incorporate loads with a view to responding to the demand. Santa Cruz has three units with powers between 95 and 100 MW.
In its eight thermoelectric plants, it adds 20 generating units, but nine are out of service due to breakdowns, according to this latest informative note.
Disaster diplomacy: why Biden should help Cuba after Hurricane Ian?
Ian hit Cuban territory on September 27, with maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour (category three on the Saffir-Simpson scale (out of a maximum of five).
Its effects continued to be felt in the western region during the night and early morning of the following day, with rains and tropical storm winds, as well as storm surges on the north coast and floods.
So far, three deaths have been recorded and the material damage to different infrastructures continues to be assessed. The prolonged blackout, meanwhile, has accelerated the social discontent.
