Cuba began this Monday, April 14, with a dire energy outlook: the national electricity deficit could reach 1,482 megawatts (MW) during peak hours, according to the official report from Unión Eléctrica (UNE).
Early in the morning, the system was already reporting an impact of 387 MW, a figure expected to rise to 700 MW by noon, due to increasing demand and insufficient energy availability.
Although the forecast issued the previous day
For this Monday, the anticipated demand is 3,250 MW, which far exceeds the projected availability of 1,838 MW during peak hours, leaving the country with a system unable to sustain national electricity consumption.
On Sunday, the SEN had already shown critical signs, and blackouts were reported throughout almost the entire day. This behavior confirms the lack of capacity to respond to a constantly increasing demand.
Among the factors exacerbating the crisis are breakdowns in Unit 2 of the Felton Thermal Power Plant, scheduled maintenance in five key thermal units (Santa Cruz, Cienfuegos, and Renté), and thermal limitations that take an additional 411 MW offline.
This is compounded by issues with fuel supply, which have rendered 91 distributed generation plants (659 MW) inactive, along with a lack of lubricants affecting another 79 MW.
Although the eight new photovoltaic solar parks contributed 940 MWh in the last 24 hours, their contribution remains marginal compared to the magnitude of the deficit.
With no signs of immediate structural solutions, the energy crisis in Cuba is intensifying, bringing severe social and economic consequences, and forcing the population to face another day under the burden of blackouts.
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