MIAMI, USA-After a weekend with prolonged blackouts of up to 20 hoursthe forecast of the electro-energy situation for this Monday is not encouraging. The demand almost doubles what is available to maintain the service.
In its daily report, the state-owned Unión Eléctrica indicates that for today’s peak hour an availability of 1,771 MW and a maximum demand of 3,100 MW is estimated, for a deficit of 1,329 MW. “So if the expected conditions continue, an impact of 1,399 MW is forecast at this time,” specifies the statement published on its Facebook profile.
Currently, unit 5 of the Mariel Thermoelectric Power Plant (CTE), unit 3 of the Santa Cruz CTE, unit 2 of the Felton CTE and units 3 and 6 of the Renté CTE are experiencing breakdowns. While unit 2 of the CTE Santa Cruz, units 3 and 4 of the CTE Cienfuegos and unit 5 of the CTE Renté are under maintenance.
Added to this worrying panorama is that 44 distributed generation plants with 238 MW from the Santiago de Cuba lake and the CDE Moa are out of service due to fuel.
Once again, almost half of Cuba will be in blackout, a situation resulting from the collapse of the national electro-energy system (SEN) due to lack of maintenance and fuel; and in turn aggravated by the passage of two hurricanes through the Island.
In May of this year, the Cuban ruler, Miguel Diaz-Canelsaid the country would experience “prolonged” power outages until June due to maintenance work on the energy system. This measure, according to the authorities, sought to reduce interruptions during the months of July and August, when consumption is highest.
However, the picture has only worsened since then. Before the total blackout on October 18, most of the island’s provinces only had a few hours of electrical service a day. A month later, it hasn’t improved.
This Sunday Cubanet asked its followers on Facebook about the electro-energy situation on the island, and we received more than a thousand comments that support the generalized deficit and the burden of Cubans due to the conditions in which they survive.
“What we need is that the system has just collapsed, but not the electric system, which has us with more misery and alienation every day,” wrote a user identified as Mabel García.
While Ana Castro noted: “no blackouts, what there is is lighting for every seven hours without power they give you two hours. Stress and depression consume us. “You have to be very strong mentally to endure this torture daily and without end.”
