Cuba faces widespread electricity outages due to generation deficit

Cuba's electricity service is facing severe disruptions, with a deficit in generation capacity affecting the entire country. On Friday, the service was impacted for 24 hours, and this situation continued through the early morning hours of Saturday.

The maximum deficit recorded on Friday was 2279 MW at 9:10 PM, which did not coincide with the time of maximum demand. This indicates ongoing issues with power generation stability.

Several key thermal power units are currently offline. Units 6 at the Máximo Gómez thermoelectric plant in the Mariel Special Development Zone and Unit 4 at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes thermoelectric plant are reported to be out of service due to breakdowns. Additionally, Unit 2 at the Lidio Ramón Pérez thermoelectric plant in Felton is also experiencing issues.

Further complicating the situation, several units are undergoing scheduled maintenance. These include Unit 3 at the Ernesto Guevara De La Serna thermoelectric plant in Santa Cruz, Units 5 and 6 at the Antonio Maceo thermoelectric plant in Renté, and Unit 5 at the Diez de Octubre thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas.

Renewable energy sources are also contributing to the power supply challenges. The 54 photovoltaic solar parks generated 4410 MW/hour on Friday, reaching a maximum output of 686 MW. Furthermore, 106 distributed generation plants are out of service due to fuel unavailability, along with specific facilities like the Regla and Melones floating power plants, and the Mariel and Moa fuel power plants.

The forecast for Saturday's peak hours indicates a projected demand of 3300 MW, while the available capacity is only 1050 MW, resulting in an anticipated deficit of 2280 MW. This suggests that widespread power outages are likely to continue.