The Electric Union of Cuba (JOINS) communicated that the National Electric System (SEN) has been linked since last night after the disconnection reported by a failure in high voltage lines of 220 kilovolts (KV) that left almost half of the island without power.
“At 6:49 a.m. the system was connected and at 9:08 a.m. the fault was restored,” declared the technical director of the UNE, Lázaro Guerra Hernández, on state television on Tuesday morning.
In information published on its social networks, UNE also reported that the failure that caused the system to crash in the central-eastern region of the island was due to “a burning of cane in the area.”
“When the two lines left the system, the power transfer between the western-central-eastern zone was cut off and caused the system to fall from Ciego de Ávila to Guantánamo.”
The UNE forecasts for today an affectation of 121 MW in the hours of greatest demand, with a high incidence in the eastern central zone due to high transfers.
Reduction of blackouts
The supply cut on Monday afternoon was one of the largest since September 27, when a moment of “zero generation” of electricity was reached after Hurricane Ian passed through the west, with force three on the Saffir scale. -Simpson.
Since then, blackouts have decreased significantly, especially since the second half of December, and have remained at lower levels in the first weeks of 2023, with effects below 10% during peak demand hours.
The Cuban energy system is in a precarious situation, as evidenced last year, when blackouts were daily and prolonged, up to twelve hours a day in some regions. The effects sometimes reached almost 40% of the country.
Among the causes of this situation is the age of the eight terrestrial thermoelectric plants in the country -with an average of more than 40 years in use-, the deficit of investments in the national energy system and the lack of fuel for the plants.
The situation has worsened in recent years due to the serious economic crisis that the country is going through due to the confluence of the pandemic, the tightening of US sanctions and errors in national monetary policy.
The blackouts have a significant economic cost, as the Cuban government has recognized, and they also generate social discontent, as was evidenced last year.
Efe/OnCuba.
