Deficit of 1,643 MW for the nighttime peak today in Cuba: outages of more than 18 hours reported

Cuba reports power outages of over 18 hours in several regions. The electricity deficit this Monday was 1801 MW. The Electric Union attributes the crisis to a lack of fuel.

Below is the information provided by the journalist from the Cuban TV news system, Lázaro Manuel Alonso, and the official note from the Cuban Electric Union (UNE).

Lázaro Manuel Alonso Information

Generation deficit this Monday was 1801 MW at peak demand. The main cause is lack of fuel in distributed generation. For the Tuesday night peak, they forecast shutting down 1643 MW. Several regions across the country are experiencing continuous outages lasting over 18 hours.

Official UNE note: National Electric System (SEN) status – April 8, 2025

Yesterday, the service was affected for 24 hours and remained affected throughout this morning. The maximum impact yesterday was 1801 MW at 8:10 PM, coinciding with the peak demand time, exceeding the planned demand above the forecast.

The energy production of the 8 new photovoltaic solar parks was 1010 MWh.

Current state of the SEN

At 7:00 a.m., the availability of the SEN is 1687 MW, while the demand reaches 2780 MW, causing an impact of 1136 MW. By noon, an impact of 1200 MW is estimated.

Main incidents

• Breakdown: Units 6 and 8 of the Mariel CTE and Unit 2 of the Felton CTE.
• Maintenance: Unit 2 of the Santa Cruz CTE, Units 3 and 4 of the Cienfuegos CTE, and Unit 5 of the Renté CTE.
• Thermal limitations: 461 MW out of service.
• Problems due to fuel shortage:
• 58 distributed generation plants (307 MW).
• Additionally, 186 MW are unavailable due to lack of lubricants.

Peak hour forecast

During peak hours, the entry of unit 6 of the Mariel CTE with 100 MW is expected, along with the recovery of 80 MW in distributed generation motors that are offline due to fuel issues, and the completion of unit 1 of the Felton CTE contributing 60 MW.

With this forecast, peak availability is estimated at 1927 MW and maximum demand at 3500 MW, resulting in a deficit of 1573 MW. If the predicted conditions persist, an impact of 1643 MW is forecasted at this time.