As January progresses, Cuba is experiencing a rise in power outages due to a worsening shortage of generation capacity. On Thursday, the service was disrupted for nearly seven hours, first from 10:36 a.m. to 12:58 p.m., and again in the afternoon from 3:46 p.m. to 8:04 p.m., with the most significant impact in the central-eastern region. The peak disruption reached 660 MW at 6:20 p.m.
According to the report from the Electric Union shared on Facebook, there was no deficit at 7:00 a.m. on Friday. However, starting at noon, a deficit of 150 MW will begin to affect the service, predominantly impacting the central-eastern area. This figure is expected to reach 659 MW during peak hours.
Currently, three units from the Nuevitas, Felton, and Santa Cruz thermoelectric plants are out of order. Additionally, maintenance is underway on four blocks at the CTE Santa Cruz, Cienfuegos, and Renté plants. Moreover, 50 distributed generation plants are offline due to a lack of fuel, accounting for 305 MW of the affected capacity.
Understanding Cuba's Growing Power Outage Issue
What is causing the increase in power outages in Cuba?
The rise in power outages is due to a growing deficit in generation capacity, with several key thermoelectric units offline and maintenance work on others. Additionally, fuel shortages have led to the shutdown of numerous distributed generation plants.
Which areas in Cuba are most affected by the power outages?
The central-eastern region of Cuba is experiencing the most significant impact from the power outages.
What measures are being taken to address the power shortage?
Maintenance is being conducted on several thermoelectric plant blocks, although the lack of fuel for distributed generation plants remains a significant challenge.