This Tuesday, the island exceeded the 2,000 MW of electrical deficit, a barrier that until mid -July had not exceeded.
Miami, United States. – The energy crisis in Cuba has reached new levels of gravity this week, after the deficit of electricity generation capacity again exceeds the 2,000 megawatts (MW), a barrier that until mid -July had never been exceeded in the history of the National Electrical System (SEN).
This time, the figure reached 2,010 MW at 9:10 pm on Tuesday, August 5, According to the electric union (UNE)state company responsible for the generation and distribution of electricity on the island.
This record not only exceeded the official forecasts in 140 MW, but it was only 44 MW of the historic affectation record, established on July 21, when the island experienced the largest blackout recorded to date: 2,054 MW.
According to UNE, this imbalance was caused by a combination of factors, including the “unforeseen exit” of Unit 6 of the Thermoelectric Central (CTE) Antonio Maceo, in Renté, Santiago de Cuba, and a “technological limitation” not specified in Unit 3 of the CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, in Cienfuegos.
The panorama becomes even more complex if it is taken into account that these two units were not the only ones outside the system. According to The official part of the UNE of August 6five other units remain out of service due to breakdowns: Unit 6 of CTE Mariel, Unit 2 of Felton, Unit 5 of October ten and units 3 and 6 of Renté. In addition, three additional units are under maintenance: Unit 2 of Santa Cruz, Unit 4 of Céspedes and Unit 5 of Renté.
As if that were not enough, the system also suffers from thermal limitations, which maintain 294 MW out of service, and for chronic fuel shortage, which has left 63 distributed generation plants completely stopped, with a total of 537 MW of affected capacity. The only still operational Turkish pin, located in order, barely generates 37 MW, well below its maximum capacity.
Another key point of the crisis is the withdrawal of the Suheyla Sultan barge, a floating plant of electricity generation operated by the Turkish company Karadeniz Holding. According to Cuban independent press reportsthe boat left the Bay of Havana on Wednesday morning, four days after the Cuban authorities They will announce His disconnection for “commercial reasons”, without offering more details.
The departure of the suheyla sultan, which He had arrived in Cuba at the beginning of February 2023implies the loss of 240 MW of generation, a capacity similar to that provided by the CTE Antonio Guiteras, the most powerful unit block in the country. Its departure represents a hard blow for the national electrical system, since this barge was part of the agreement established in 2019 with Karadeniz Holding, which marked the debut of the Turkish company in America.
Although at the time up to eight Turkish patanas were operated in Cuba, there is currently only one in operation, also in Havana Bay.
The causes of the withdrawal of these floating units have not been publicly detailed, but various officials of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) have recognized in recent months the financial problems facing the country to meet payments. In December 2024, Minister Vicente de la O Levy explained that only three barges remained operational, and that one of them performed technical functions. More recently, in May of this year, the first vice minister Algierio Jesús Abad Vigoa admitted to Granma that there was “a latent risk of the possibility of retirement of the patanas, equivalent to about 400 MW.” (These statements, however, were subsequently eliminated from the digital version of the newspaper; now they can only be consulted in the PDF file of its printed version).
As for the general balance of the electrical system for Wednesday, August 6, the UNE daily part indicated that the availability at 6:00 am was 1,680 MW, compared to a demand of 3,050 MW. For noon schedule, an even greater affectation was projected: 1,550 MW.
Despite the punctual contribution of the 24 new photovoltaic solar parks, which reached a maximum power of 551 MW during the previous day, renewable production is not enough to meet national demand.
For Wednesday’s night peak schedule, UNE foresees an availability of 1,962 MW and a maximum demand of 3,750 MW, which would leave a deficit of 1,788 MW and a projected affectation of 1,858 MW.
This projection contemplates the synchronization of Unit 6 of Renté (50 MW), Unit 6 of Mariel (95 MW) and seven additional engines of the rule pin (48 MW). But, as the UNE warns, “if any of these planned inputs does not occur, or another breakage occurs, the electrical deficit would be greater than the officially estimated.”
In total, current conditions indicate that more than half of the country could be without electricity simultaneously during the most demand peaks, which seriously affects the daily life of citizens and further complicates the fragile national economy. Since mid -July, when the 2,000 MW barrier of affectation was broken for the first time, the figures have been consistently remained above that threshold, which suggests a structural trend that could be extended over time.
The Cuban government has not offered new measures to reverse this situation or have published data on the cost or contractual conditions of the agreements with Karadeniz Holding. On its corporate website, the Turkish company does not even mention Cuba among its active international projects, although its presence on the island marked its entrance to the American continent.
