Blackouts in Cuba worsen this lunes: electricity deficit reaches record 1645 MW

This luneOn May 19, Cuba woke up to a blackout again after experiencing continuous interruptions over the past 24 hours. The National Electric System (SEN) is facing one of its worst periods of the year, with record energy deficits.

Maximum impact and solar energy generated

The maximum impact recorded this Sunday was 1465 MW, coinciding with peak consumption at 9:20 p.m. Although the 12 new solar farms contributed 1462 MWh, this only covered a small fraction of daily demand.

Electricity deficit at the beginning of the week
In the morning hours of this luneAvailable capacity was just 1875 MW, compared to a total demand of 2810 MW. This represented an immediate deficit of 941 MW, directly affecting 33.4% of total demand. By midday, the projected deficit will increase to 1050 MW (37.4% affected).

Main causes of the effects

Among the notable outages are Unit 3 of the Cienfuegos thermoelectric plant and Unit 2 at Felton. In addition, major plants such as Santa Cruz, Nuevitas, Renté, and another unit in Cienfuegos are undergoing maintenance.

Adding to these problems are thermal limitations, which leave 314 MW out of service. Additionally, fuel shortages are shutting down 49 distributed generation plants (262 MW), and another 126 MW are down due to a lack of engine oil. This brings the total outages due to this cause to 388 MW (11.2% of the projected nighttime deficit).

Grave forecast for tonight

For the evening peak, expected around 9:00 p.m., the situation could worsen. Record demand of 3450 MW is expected, while availability will remain limited to 1875 MW. This will generate an unprecedented deficit of 1575 MW, meaning 45.6% of electricity consumption will remain uncovered.

The actual projected impact could reach 1645 MW (47.7% affected).