Power company forecasts outages in 14% of Cuba this Thursday

Havana, Dec. 8. The state-owned Unión Eléctrica (UNE) predicted Thursday blackouts in 14% of Cuba during peak power consumption hours in the afternoon-evening.

UNE foresees another day with a decrease in the energy deficit, after several months with indicators that exceeded 2,000 megawatts (MW) and daily cuts in supply for several hours.

The estimate is for peak hours - of highest consumption - an electric generation capacity of 2,424 MW and a maximum demand of 2,750 MW.

The deficit - the difference between supply and demand - will be 326 MW and the impact - what will actually be disconnected - will be 396 MW.

The Government reported its intention to reduce the impact of blackouts before the end of the year with repairs and new investments.

It attributes to breakages and failures in thermoelectric plants, lack of fuel and scheduled maintenance among the main causes of the energy crisis in the country.

Most of Cuba's onshore power plants operate with more than 40 years of operation, when the average age is 30 years. Maintenance has also been deficient.

Throughout the year, power outages have affected the economic activity and daily life of Cubans, which has generated social discontent and spontaneous protests.

Blackouts were one of the main reasons behind the anti-government demonstrations of July 11, 2021, the largest in decades, as well as those registered after Hurricane Ian, when a good part of the island was without power for a week. EFE

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