From our Bureau of Socialist Energy Management
Castro, Inc. has been unable to supply Cuba with sufficient electricity for many years, and especially for the past two. Yet, instead of fixing the problems that cause this power deficit, Castro, Inc. has actually worsened this crisis.
Castro, Inc. is now calling for daily two-hour blackouts throughout the island. And you know — of course — that if Castro, Inc. promises two-hour blackouts, you can count on blackouts much worse than that.
The downward spiral intensifies without any light at the end of the tunnel. With those floating Turkish power plants pulling out of the island (most probably due to lack of payments), with power plants in catastrophic shape, and with fuel in short supply, the future looks bleak indeed for Castro, Inc.’s power grid.
If none of these critical failures can be fixed in the next few months, Cuba will soon be back in the dark ages, literally. Except for its tourist enclaves, of course.
Loosely translated from Marti Noticias
A week ago, the effects and deficit indices of the electrical service in Cuba began to rise, although without reaching the levels of last year when they reached 50% in various locations, reported the EFE press agency.
This Saturday, April 15, the service was affected due to a generation capacity deficit from 06:54 a.m. to 01:54 a.m. on Sunday, the state company Unión Eléctica, UNE, announced.
“The maximum impact at night was 556 MW, at 8:20 p.m., coinciding with peak time,” he said. “The availability of the SEN at 07:00 hours is 2,350 MW and the demand is 2,132 MW with everything served. It is not estimated that it will be affected by a capacity deficit during the daytime hours.”
The energy deficit increased again from the end of February, after the four failures reported in the national electrical network that left more than half of the country without service.
The national electrical system is going through a precarious situation “with almost all its terrestrial thermoelectric plants with more than 30 years of use, the lack of investment and the fuel deficit,” EFE said.
“This scenario negatively influences the economic crisis affecting the country, worsened in recent years, and generates social discontent,” the Spanish agency said.
Meanwhile, the Cuban government has launched a new initiative to address the problem, and it consists of “two hours a day of total blackout,” the digital newspaper 14ymedio reported this Sunday on the front page.
Continue reading HERE in Spanish