Havana/Cuba will experience another day this Wednesday with an average of a couple of hours of electricity for its inhabitants: in the evening peak hour, 68% of the electricity supply that the country will demand will be missing. For a maximum demand of 3,000 megawatts (MW), only 990 MW will be available, and the real impact will reach 2,040 MW.
According to a report this day from the state Electrical Union (UNE), dependent on the Ministry of Energy and Mines, in Havana the blackouts last up to 42 hours, and in several areas of the Cuban capital they have exceeded 25 continuous hours.
The current energy crisis is explained by the conjunction of a structural factor, a profoundly obsolete energy system, and a temporary element, the oil blockade initiated in January by the United States, although the latter does not affect thermoelectric plants, which use very heavy national crude oil.
On this day, 10 of the 16 generation units in the country remain without providing energy
Cuba’s obsolete thermoelectric plants, responsible for 40% of the mix, were mostly built during the 60s and 70s of the last century and with a chronic deficit in investments and maintenance, in addition to the deterioration due to the very corrosive fuel they use, they suffer frequent breakdowns.
On this day, 10 of the country’s 16 generation units remain without providing energy, including the largest in the country, the Antonio Guiteras CTE. According to a brief statement from the UNE, work continues to repair the plant’s boiler, and they do not offer a specific date for the block’s start-up.
“Engineer Román Pérez Castañeda, general director, was cautious about the moment in which the hydraulic tests can be undertaken that will confirm the effectiveness of the corrective measures,” says the message on the state company’s networks. And he adds: “in a period of approximately 24 hours it could attempt to start.”
The blackouts in recent weeks have caused the population to become fed up, taking to the streets to protest in numerous locations.
