Havana, Oct 19 (EFE).- The Cuban authorities reported this Saturday that They managed to restore 500 megawatts (MW) – out of a demand close to 3,000 – in the midst of attempts to fully restore the national electrical grid, which has been down since Friday a breakdown in the main thermoelectric plant of the country.
This represents only 16% of consumers, according to the figures provided during a meeting between authorities of the energy sector in which the Cuban president participated. Miguel Diaz-Canelaccording to the images published in X by the Presidency.
Some areas already had electricity, after more than 30 hours of blackout on the Caribbean island. Neighborhoods far from the center of the Cuban capital located in municipalities such as Boyeros, Habana del Este, San Miguel del Padrón and Cotorro had energy, according to information from the users themselves and the provincial electricity company.
In the provinces of Pinar del Río (east), Sancti Spíritus (center), and Las Tunas (west), communities with electricity were also reported.
However, the bulk of the country remained in the dark, while the authorities worked to get the ball rolling. the Antonio Guiteras terrestrial thermoelectric plant (CTE), the main generator in the country and located in Matanzas (west).
System failures
The authorities also warned that the situation could become “complex” due to the approach of Hurricane Oscar to the east of the country.
The National Electric System (SEN) collapsed this Friday morning due to the “unforeseen” departure of the Guiteras due to a breakdown, as explained by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem). An event occurred “zero national energy coverage”, a complete blackout throughout the country.
The gradual recovery process of the SEN contemplates the creation of some areas with current in certain parts of the country, with the objective of expanding them and connecting them to each other in order to reach the thermoelectric plants and restart them. However, a new failure left those areas that already had electricity in the dark.
The SEN is in a very precarious state due to the fuel deficit -as a result of the lack of foreign currency to import it- and the frequent breakdowns in obsolete thermoelectric plants, with four decades of operation and chronic lack of investments.
The island currently has seven Soviet-made CTEs – built more than four decades ago and affected by a chronic investment deficit-, with a total of 20 generation units (seven of them were stopped in recent days due to breakdowns and maintenance).
Causes of the crisis
The causes of the current energy crisis are the shortage of imported fuel to supply engines and power plants, and the repeated breakdowns in its obsolete thermoelectric plantsin accordance with the UNE.
The country consumes 8 million tons of fuel annually, of which it only produces three millionaccording to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
The Government has stated on some occasion that it dedicates more than 2,000 million dollars to this area annually. Allies such as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico have been providing the country with most of the energy it requires.
As a result, blackouts have become common for several years. In recent years, the Cuban Government has rented several floating power plants to mitigate the lack of generation capacity.
Frequent blackouts
Frequent blackouts damage the Cuban economy – which in 2023 contracted 1.9% and is still below 2019 levels, according to official data – and drive social discontent in a society affected by an economic crisis worsened in the last years.
They have also triggered anti-government protests, including those on July 11, 2021 – the largest in decades – and those on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba (east) and other locations.
The last time a similar “zero production” situation occurred was in September 2022 after Category Three Hurricane Ian passed through the eastern end of the island. This caused a serious imbalance and left the entire country in darkness. Recovery took days. EFE
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