Cuba Faces Widespread Power Outages Amid Generation Deficits
Havana, Cuba – Cuba’s national electric system experienced meaningful disruptions yesterday, impacting service across the island nation. A generation capacity deficit peaked at 1,775 MW at 6:30 p.m., according to information released by the Electrical Union and reported by Cubadebate. While new renewable energy sources are contributing to the grid, ongoing issues wiht aging infrastructure, maintenance, and fuel shortages continue to strain power availability.
The challenges highlight Cuba’s ongoing struggle to modernize its energy infrastructure and secure reliable fuel supplies. Despite the recent addition of 33 new photovoltaic solar parks which produced 2,255 MWh of energy with a maximum delivery of 473 MW, these gains are currently insufficient to offset widespread outages. The system’s availability at 6:00 a.m. was 1,570 MW against a demand of 2,460 MW, resulting in a 950 MW deficit. This impact rose to an estimated 1,050 MW by noon.
Several factors contributed to the shortfall. A fault was reported at felton CTE Unit 2, and multiple thermoelectric plants are undergoing scheduled maintenance, including Unit 5 of CTE Mariel, Unit 2 of CTE Santa Cruz, Unit 4 of CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in Cienfuegos, and Unit 6 of CTE Nuevitas. Limitations in thermal generation account for 534 MW of unavailable capacity.
Critically,fuel shortages are severely impacting distributed generation,with 96 plants offline due to a lack of fuel,representing 895 MW of lost capacity. An additional 68 MW is unavailable due to a lack of lubricant, bringing the total impact from fuel-related issues to 963 MW.
Forecasts indicate continued strain on the system during peak hours, with an expected availability of 1,570 MW against a projected demand of 3,250 MW – a deficit of 1,680 MW. If conditions remain unchanged, a further impact of 1,750 MW is anticipated.
