Renewables fell on the Island by 6.4% compared to the previous year and barely accounted for 3.6%
14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2024 — The Government insists on presenting renewable energies as the great hope to solve Cuba’s energy crisis, despite the fact that, just three days ago, the report published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) could not paint a worse picture.
Renewables fell on the Island by 6.4% compared to the previous year and barely accounted for 3.6% of energy generation, far from the official target of 24% for 2030. But this Thursday, the official press returns to the charge: the plans for the development of renewable energy do not stop. In Holguín, for example, two solar parks will be built with a generation capacity of 20 megawatts (MW). The “land movement” for the works of the first of them has already begun in the People’s Council of Cajimaya, municipality of Mayarí.
According to Ahora, quoting Fernando Hechavarría Pupo, an official of the Holguín Electric Company, the second park will be established in the Miraflores neighborhood, in the municipality of Moa, where “soil studies and excavations are being carried out.” A third is planned for the town of Potrerillo, but here, Hechavarría Pupo explained, “the panels cannot be mounted on the ground, so a casting process that will take longer is necessary.”
The authorities have promised to install a total of 42,000 solar panels by December 2024 or January 2025
The authorities have promised to install a total of 42,000 solar panels by December 2024 or January 2025, when, they say, “their installation will be completed by providing energy” to the National Electro-Energy System (SEN).
This Thursday, the Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, Evgeni Grabchak, also pointed out to the Sputnik news agency that his country “is actively working” in the construction on Cuban soil of facilities that use renewable resources for energy production.
“As far as the construction of power plants and networks is concerned, it is above all with Cuba that we maintain an intense collaboration,” Grabchak said during the St. Petersburg Forum, which takes place until Saturday, June 8. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas is participating in the Forum, seeking financing for the 2030 Cuban Development Plan.
According to ONEI, in 2023 Cuba imported 73.5% more fuel than the previous year to produce electricity in rented generators and floating power plants. The energy generated by imported oil reached the equivalent of 31% of that produced in thermoelectric plants with the national fuel.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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