Havana, June 17 (EFE).- The blackouts will affect the vast majority of Cuba this Monday and simultaneously up to 14% of the country during the hours of greatest demand, reported the state-owned Unión Eléctrica (UNE) in a statement in the one that pointed to the breakdowns and lack of fuel.
Since the beginning of May, the island has been suffering from a worsening of its energy crisis, which is causing prolonged daily power cuts, of up to 20 hours in some localities, with effects on economic activity and growing social unrest.
The UNE, dependent on the Ministry of Energy and Mines, foresees for this date a maximum electricity generation capacity of 2,560 megawatts (MW) for a demand that is expected to reach 2,900 MW.
This means that the deficit – the difference between supply and demand – will be up to 340 MW and the impact – what will actually be disconnected – will be 410 MW in the so-called “peak time”, in the evening.
The National Energy System (SEN) is in a very precarious state due to the lack of imported fuel and the recurring breakdowns in the seven thermoelectric plants, obsolete due to their more than four decades of use and the chronic lack of investments and maintenance.
In the last six years, the Cuban Government has rented up to seven floating power plants (of which currently only five remain) to alleviate the lack of generation capacity, a quick but temporary, polluting and expensive solution.
The frequent cuts in the electricity supply damage the economy – which in 2023 contracted between one and two percent – and fuel social discontent in a society already seriously affected by an economic crisis for four years.
They have also been the trigger for the anti-government protests in recent years, including those on July 11, 2021 – the largest in decades – and those on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba (east) and other locations. EFE
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