As the weekend draws to a close, Cubans are experiencing extended power outages caused by a substantial generation shortfall, leading to a 1,421 MW deficit during peak demand hours. The actual impact may surpass this estimate, as seen on Saturday when the predicted shortage was 1,500 MW, yet the deficit peaked at 1,615 MW by 6:20 pm.
Additionally, at that time, there were disruptions amounting to 100 MW due to electrical network damage from Hurricane Rafael, with Artemisa experiencing 99 MW and Mayabeque 1 MW of outages. The power service was disrupted for the entire 24-hour period and continued through this morning.
Current Power Disruptions
According to the report from the Cuban Electric Union (UNE), as of 7:00 am on Sunday, there were 771 MW affected by the generation shortfall, alongside another 94 MW in Artemisa due to network failures. By midday, the deficit is expected to rise to 1,100 MW.
Five units from the Mariel, Nuevitas, Felton, and Renté thermoelectric plants are out of service due to technical failures. Maintenance is underway on four additional units from the Santa Cruz, Cienfuegos, and Renté plants.
Fuel Shortages and Its Impact
Furthermore, 49 distributed generation plants, along with the floating power stations in Santiago de Cuba and Regla, and the Moa Diesel Electric Plant (CDE Moa), are offline due to fuel shortages, resulting in a total of 558 MW affected.
Thermal generation limitations are contributing an additional 346 MW to the overall deficit.