The breakdowns in seven thermoelectric plants and the lack of fuel oil have brought back the blackouts of more than 12 hours
14ymedio, Havana, August 22, 2024 — If with a deficit of less than 500 megawatts (MW) two days ago Cubans suffered blackouts of up to 19 hours, for this Thursday they fear it will be worst. The Electric Union of Cuba (UNE) predicts in its daily report a deficit of 1,235 MW for peak hours and an impact – which will finally switch off – of 1,305 MW.
It is a record figure for the last three months, very close to the 1,400 megawatts reached on May 28, and it will affect 39% of the island’s consumption during Thursday afternoon and night.
The Island had not reached such a high deficit for weeks, but the lack of fuel and breakdowns in seven thermoelectric plants have brought back the blackouts of more than 12 hours. “It has not been possible to avoid the impacts,” the UNE excuses itself in its statement without further arguments.
On Tuesday, the the Felton ’Lidio Ramón Pérez’ thermal power plant (CTE) in Holguín broke down due to a “puncture in the boiler” that will have it offline until at least Sunday. This was followed by the exit from the system of the ’Diez de Octubre’ CTE in Nuevitas (Camagüey) on Wednesday, by a “critical route,” said the state company. The UNE determined that they need to clean the boiler in a process that will last at least 40 hours. In addition, unit 5 of the ’Máximo Gómez’ CTE, in Mariel, units 1 and 3 in that of Santa Cruz del Norte (Mayabeque) and unit 4 of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cienfuegos) are out of service due to breakdowns.
The Island had not reached such a high deficit for weeks, and it appears that the blackouts of more than 12 hours have returned
The residents of Avellaneda Street, in the city of Camagüey, are among the few who have electricity in Cuba. The reason is that they live near the headquarters of the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa), and the state monopoly does not have the fuel necessary to restart its own generators, so they never cut off the power. “They can’t take electricity away from the company because they don’t have a way to run their own plants,” explains Sury, 48, who lives a few meters from the premises.
“We were surprised when we saw that suddenly we no longer had blackouts although the whole city spends more than ten hours a day without power,” she tells this newspaper. “When we began to investigate, it turns out that the reason is that Etecsa has run out of oil and that office is prioritized. If the power is removed, most of Nauta’s mobile communications and services in Camagüey are dropped,” he explains. “We are a small group of people who are happy that there is no oil, a tremendous irony of life.”
For the rest of the Island, however, the situation borders on the unsustainable. In Thursday’s UNE report, a user identified as Orlando Perez Atencio shared some details of how the last hours of blackouts have been experienced in the Cuban East; to be more specific, in the city of Campechuela where he resides and where yesterday the lack of service was from 9:08 p.m. to 5:52 a.m.
For the rest of the Island, however, the situation borders on the unsustainable
He described it as “a sad spectacle” with children going hoarse from inconsolable crying caused by the heat and the mosquitoes. “The parents are powerless in the face of such a scene, and the grandparents are hopelessly moaning,” he said.
In the months of February, March and May, the lack of power – more than 40% — sent people to the street to protest in numerous places such as Sancti Spíritus, Baracoa and Cienfuegos. The regime’s response on those occasions was, as usual, repression. Units of red berets (Army Prevention Troops) made arrests and deterred the demonstrators.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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