The heat is beginning to hit the island and energy demand grows faster than generation recovers. This Tuesday, breakfast choked many Cubans when the report that Cuban television advances every day announced cuts of up to seven hours in some points on the island.
“Yesterday in Sancti Spíritus they cut off the electricity around 5 in the afternoon and turned it on around 8:30. The blackouts are taking off,” says the correspondent for 14ymedio in the province, which is already enduring the first prolonged cuts.
Shortly after, the Electric Union (UNE) disseminated in their social networks the summary of yesterday’s session, confirming 7 pm as the worst moment of the day, when there was a deficit of 541 MW. The company also publishes its generation forecast for today, when a deficit of 23% of light is expected in the evening, the time of greatest consumption. The company forecasts a power generation capacity of 2,277 megawatts (MW) and a maximum demand of 2,860 MW.
In total, 237 MW of the generation produced in the thermoelectric plants are missing, since unit 6 of Máximo Gómez, in Mariel (Artemisa), unit 3 of Ernesto Guevara, in Santa Cruz (Mayabeque), unit 2, are damaged. of Antonio Guiteras, in Matanzas, unit 5 of Diez de Octubre, in Nuevitas (Camagüey), unit 2 of Lidio Ramón Pérez, in Felton (Holguín), and unit 5 of Antonio Maceo, called Renté, in Santiago de Cuba.
They are joined by three units under maintenance, one in Cienfuegos and two in La Renté, in addition to deficiencies in distributed generation. Of this, 933 MW are not working and 322 MW are under maintenance. In this context, the 20 MW provided by the Puerto Escondido unit and the 70 MW of Renté, whose unit 5 enters peak hours, fall short.
“And one who thought that by now this situation was going to be resolved with scheduled maintenance”
Despite the lack of expectations that citizens already have regarding the Government’s promises, some customers regret having believed the words of the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, who since the beginning of the year proposed a maintenance program aimed at repairing the thermoelectric plants that began in January, when the weather is cooler –and therefore favourable– and should end in May, to face the hot weather, when demand soars.
In January, the minister announced that with this plan power outages were not going to disappear, but they would be one or two hours, compared to 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. last summer, when an unprecedented crisis originated that led to a multitude of protests spread throughout different parts of the country. However, already in February deadlines began to be extended blackouts at three and four hours.
“And one who thought that by now this situation was going to be resolved with scheduled maintenance,” laments a disappointed user on the UNE networks.
Between February 13 and 22, from the center to the east of Cuba there were four big blackouts that left half the island in the dark, fueling the fears of the population and the feeling of grievance among the inhabitants of that area, who feel discriminated against residents in the western area, where they are located all Turkish floating plants that contribute to electricity generation.
The authorities of the sector affirmed that one was going to be sent to Santiago de Cuba to minimize the problems, since the location in Havana of all of them –which was established due to the greater presence of companies and concentration of population– was catastrophic for the east of Cuba. the Island, but the inhabitants continue to feel affected and affirm that the patana continues without moving.
“The party started again. To suffer with the Blackout orchestra giving its annoying concerts all over Cuba. The same never-ending story,” a client bitterly ironized, in a pun reminiscent of the traditional Aragón orchestra. Another is already anticipating the fear that causes fear on the island: “I’m just saying that the heat is coming and we are caught again by 10 or 12 hours of blackout.”
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