Blackouts to Cut Power to Up to 70% of Cuba on Wednesday

Up to 70% of Cuba could lose electricity simultaneously on Wednesday evening, according to figures from the state-owned Unión Eléctrica, or UNE. The outages are expected during the period of highest demand, from afternoon into night.

The utility forecasts only 990 megawatts of available generation against maximum demand of 3,250 megawatts. That leaves an estimated 2,290-megawatt shortfall, representing the power that authorities expect to disconnect to prevent uncontrolled blackouts.

The pressure has already produced prolonged outages. UNE said blackouts in Havana reached 36 consecutive hours the previous day, while other parts of the country have reported cuts lasting up to three days this week. Cuban authorities have described the condition of the National Electric System as “critical.”

Ten of the 16 thermal generating units are out of service because of breakdowns or maintenance. Thermal plants provide 40% of Cuba’s energy mix, and the article attributes their problems to decades of use and chronic underinvestment rather than the oil blockade, since they mainly burn domestically produced oil.

Distributed generation supplies another 40% of the mix through diesel and fuel-oil engines. That sector has been halted by the oil blockade, although it already faced difficulties because the government lacked foreign currency to import fuel. Gas and renewable sources, mainly solar power supported by China, provide the remaining 20%.

Cuba needs slightly more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day, according to estimates cited in the report, but domestic production supplies about 40,000 barrels. Independent experts put the cost of fully repairing the power system at between $8 billion and $10 billion, beyond the country’s means amid an economic crisis lasting more than six years.

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