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The lack of fuel in Cuba increases the crisis that the country is experiencing, which, due to the scarcity of the resource, suffers blackouts in the energy supply, according to the island's authorities. However, analysts question the government's fuel management, ensuring that it is sufficient to avoid repeated cuts. This Tuesday was the biggest cut that Cubans experienced.
The state company Unión Eléctrica had announced for this Tuesday, February 13, that 45% of the island would suffer power outages between the afternoon and evening hours, due to the lack of fuel, a necessary resource to make operate thermoelectric plants. Furthermore, the company assures that the lack of spare parts for its machines complicates the situation.
The suspension in the electrical system this Tuesday was the largest recorded since the beginning of the year, which came with impact values of between 20% and 35%.
The daily report of the company belonging to the Ministry of Energy and Mines calculated for the time of highest consumption, in the afternoon and evening, an electrical generation capacity of 1,742 megawatts (MW) and a maximum demand of 3,050 MW, according to data it replicated. EFE.
Due to the crisis and sanctions suffered by the island, the Cuban Government has rented up to seven floating power plants to the Turkish company Karpowership in the last five years to alleviate the lack of generation capacity, a quick but temporary, polluting and expensive solution.
The repeated supply cuts affect the economy and put merchants in check, in a country that in 2023 suffered a contraction of its economy of between 1% and 2%.
According to the Statistical Information Office, cited by Reuters, Cuba's economy demands about 125,000 barrels per day, according to 2021 data.
Meanwhile, the country produces around 40,000 barrels per day from national wells and has received approximately 57,000 barrels per day from Venezuela. Added to this are about 23,000 barrels per day from Mexico and between 7,000 to 10,000 barrels per day in purchases in the spot market.
According to analysts, that is enough to cover domestic consumption. However, Cuban government officials did not respond to a Reuters request to explain the discrepancies.
Jorge Piñón, who studies Cuba's infrastructure and energy supply at the University of Texas at Austin, said the problem is not the supply, but the management of the resource.
“We do not see the fuel shortage in Cuba as an external problem. This could be an internal problem. Problem in logistics, storage, tankers and cabotage that circulate between Cuban ports,” said Piñon in dialogue with Reuters.
With EFE and Reuters.
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