{"id":321291,"date":"2025-04-16T18:16:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T22:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=321291"},"modified":"2025-04-16T18:16:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T22:16:06","slug":"solar-parks-vs-blackouts-between-illusions-and-reality-ii-and-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economy\/cuban-economy\/solar-parks-vs-blackouts-between-illusions-and-reality-ii-and-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar parks vs. blackouts: between illusions and reality (II and end)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fourth month of 2025 has reached its midpoint, and <\/span>Cuba\u2019s electricity situation<\/b><\/a>, even with the new solar parks installed, still shows no plausible signs of improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although generation has increased slightly compared to the most acute peaks of the crisis, and for a few hours in the early morning, the deficit has been overcome, demand has also been increasing, and blackouts continue to last for hours across the island.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, several thermal power plants remain offline every day due to breakdowns or maintenance, while the fuel shortage \u2014 although its impact fluctuates in official reports, is a sword of Damocles for the fragile National Electric Power System (SEN). Not to mention that 94 distributed generation plants were shut down <\/span>this Tuesday<\/span><\/a> for this reason.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this context of deficit, the new solar parks \u2014 the government\u2019s flagship project to alleviate the country\u2019s energy crisis in the short term \u2014 have been able to do little so far and are paying the price in the public eye. At the end of March, eight new parks with a capacity of 21.8 MW were operating, and two weeks later, that figure remains the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

Authorities <\/span>have promised<\/span><\/a> to install five more parks in April and exceed 50 by the end of the year, bringing the combined capacity to exceed 1,000 MW. The installed capacity so far only reaches 174.4 MW, which means that this is the maximum possible generation of the eight currently operating.<\/span><\/p>\n

This capacity, although greater than that of several thermal units on the island, is less than that of the most powerful blocks, such as Guiteras or Felton 1; and also \u2014 by no small amount \u2014 than the MW that are no longer generated each day by units outside the SEN, plants shut down due to lack of fuel, and even the thermal limitations of synchronized plants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why, until now, although the electricity generated by these parks has contributed to reducing the impact, its effect has not yet been felt, \u201cdrowned out\u201d by the high deficit that prevails day after day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, the blackouts continue unabated, and the improvement promised by the authorities \u201cis not immediately visible,\u201d L\u00e1zaro Guerra, director general of electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), <\/span>admitted a few days ago<\/span><\/a>. \u201cBut as we continue to install more parks, the improvement should be seen,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Solar parks vs. blackouts: between illusions and reality (I)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n