On Thursday, local television broadcast the words by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Council of Ministers about the issue, where he addressed the causes of the power cuts that have been affecting the population and the economy, as well as the actions that are being carried out to find solutions.

The president pointed out that this scenario may persist until late May, where simultaneous breakdowns in several thermoelectric power plants are combined with others that are out of service due to planned maintenance, and the lack of fuel for the distributed generation groups.

Energy and Mines Minister Livan Arronte detailed at the daily radio and TV Round Table program that in order to operate in a stable and safe manner, the system requires 500 megawatts of reserve, and they are not available at this moment.

According to Jorge Armando Cepero, director of the National Electric Company, three blocks are currently under maintenance and a total of five units are out of service due to breakdowns, reasons for which the level of lack of power is very high.

He recalled that sustaining the national electric system is expensive and exemplified that only to guarantee the operation and maintenance in one year, 250 million dollars are required, without counting the fuel, which is currently above 110 dollars per barrel.

Arronte assured that they are working tirelessly to solve the breakdowns and the planned maintenance to conclude them in the shortest possible time.

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