A strategic programme for the development of the country and the quality of life of the population was the focus of the debates at Wednesday’s Round Table: The development of renewable energy sources in Cuba.

Rosell Guerra Campaña, director of renewable energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), commented that the country’s energy matrix currently depends to a large extent on fossil fuels, which, together with their high costs, makes it impossible to achieve the much-needed energy sovereignty.

«However, we have the advantage that the country has a high potential for renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and forest biomass, which allows us to move forward in this energy transition strategy».

In his speech, he recalled that in 2014 the country approved a policy whose goal was to reach 24% of electricity production from renewable sources. «That target will be met by 2030, and the percentage may be a little higher. The strategy that is being developed is much more comprehensive because it includes all business systems and society».

He added that the current policy encompasses not only the energy matrix, but also the industrial and services axis, the agro-industrial sector, food production, the residential sector and local management. «We can’t just stay at 24%.

He explained that the first stage is to achieve 24 per cent with renewable energy sources, but then the aim is to achieve energy independence for the country through the use of our oil wells, natural gas and renewable sources. «It’s not just about building solar parks; we also have to recover fuel production and maintain thermoelectric plants.

«This energy transition strategy will be accompanied by a law to be presented to the National Assembly in December. We have identified sectors with great opportunities, such as the food industry, which consumes diesel and fuel oil, as well as tourism, the sugar sector and agriculture».

«We have good examples in the country, such as the use of panels on roofs, as in the biotechnology sector. This sector first optimised its processes to make them more efficient and then installed these renewable sources. This is also the case for the electronics industry in Boyeros. There is also solar pumping, not only for the population, but also for agricultural irrigation».

He went on to detail that MFP resolution 238 establishes that those who invest in renewable energy sources will not pay taxes for 8 years and will be exempt from customs duties. «In the case of decree 110, all business systems must draw up their programme for the change of the energy matrix.

For his part, Ovel Concepción Díaz, director of generation with renewable energy sources, ratified that this process is a necessity for the country, since more than 40% of the fuel used in electricity generation is imported, while 95% of the energy is produced with fossil fuels.

He commented that the Unión Eléctrica is executing several investments across the country to transform the energy matrix. «Since 2013, photovoltaic parks began to be installed, beyond the experiences in intricate areas, and this accelerated after the approval of the government’s policy. When we have 1,000 MW installed, we will reach 8% of the 24% predicted, which will save more than 400,000 tonnes of fuel.»

He explained that there is a macro programme that foresees the installation of 92 photovoltaic parks with a total of 2,012 MW, of which more than 1,000 MW will be installed this year with the installation of more than 50 parks throughout the country. There will also be 4 sites with energy storage of 50 MW of power, for a total of 200 MW, which will compensate for the variability caused by photovoltaic generation as it is integrated into the system.

He added that, as part of the macro-programme being worked on, three or four photovoltaic parks are being built in each of the provinces, and as they are completed, this electricity generation will be incorporated into the system.

«This year the photovoltaic parks will be completed and this generation will be incorporated into the system on a monthly basis. In February, two parks were finished, one here in Havana, in El Cotorro, and the other in Cienfuegos. We have already achieved 43 MW of this macro-programme. They are working very well,» he said.

«On average, these PV parks are generating 120-140 MW, which saves us about 35,000 tonnes of fuel per PV park. We are already seeing the results.

«In March, we plan to complete another six PV parks, amounting to 131.2 MW,» Concepción Díaz added.

He acknowledged that all the companies have been working very hard, with the leadership of the Party and the government of each territory, all involved in terms of meeting the completion dates that have been planned for each of these parks and to be entering the power that has been planned on a monthly basis.

«By the end of March we will have more than 170 MW and eight wind farms in operation,» he said.

He reiterated that the results are already visible; for example, in the two parks that were completed in February, more than 4 159 MW have been generated, which is a saving of more than 1000 tonnes of fuel, which has not been necessary to use in the generation of electricity.

He acknowledged that this is a major investment. «Anyone would say, he added, that installing a 21.8 MW photovoltaic park is done very quickly, and it takes a lot of effort. First, work has had to be done to identify the areas. A 21.8 MW park needs a space of 32 hectares, or 320,000 m².

«These areas have to be prepared, they have to be cleaned, the soil has to be studied, the biological risk has to be studied,» he said. Then you have to do an engineering process, civil construction, which includes the construction of the foundations to put the panels.

«More than 1,600 structures have to be installed to support the panels (more than 43,000), plus all the cabling (more than 290 m of cable) and more than 89,000 electrical connections. In other words, it’s a huge job,» he said.

He emphasised that a very serious job has been done in the selection of the land in conjunction with various organisations such as Agriculture. We even have a commission that works practically all week looking for the areas, he said.

As requirements, he pointed out that the parks have to be 8 km apart from each other, they have to be at a distance of no more than 10 km from the substation, because they also have to have stability.

«The wind farms also have a complex process from a logistical point of view. Each wind farm has more than 130 containers,» he said.

He noted that the process began in April 2024, with the closing of contracts. From that moment on, the engineering work, the manufacturing process and the transfer of resources began. There are currently eight wind farms that are practically ready, two synchronised and in operation, and another two that, although they have not been officially inaugurated, are also synchronised. And another two will be incorporated this month.

Concepción Díaz highlighted the efforts made by the construction companies linked to the project: the Micons with its entire business system, the Military Construction Union, with the construction companies and the project companies.

«It has been a big challenge for all the technicians, because these are new technologies, he said. We have had to learn about these new technologies, we have had to study and prepare all these projects in such a way that when the resources arrive it is straight to the football field.

He also pointed out what it means for the country, not having to import fuels equivalent to the generation of these parks, because it solves two problems: it covers a large part of the demand during the day and it also solves the problem of not having to import these fuels. It gives us energy independence, which is the most important thing about these programmes, he said.

«I think a great effort is being made and we are going to continue in each of the territories. We have even set a date for each of the wind farms, and based on that date all the measures are being taken to comply and to be able to finish at the end of the year with 1,000 MW,» he said.

In addition to this macro programme, Concepción Díaz said, work is also being done on other projects. One of them is the construction of 22 photovoltaic parks, also throughout the country, based on a Chinese donation, which would provide 120 MW. Of these 22 parks, we already have resources to begin construction of the first seven, she said.

He explained that it is divided into two parts, a 35 MW project and an 85 MW project. «For the first 35 MW the resources will be completed in the months of February to July. In other words, we will be able to build these farms this year. And for the second stage, which is 85 MW, we will have the resources between March and October,» he said.

We are also working intensively on the completion of the first stage of the Herradura 1 wind farm, which will provide 33 MW. This is a project that we have been working on for some time, but we already have the resources to be able to finish all the civil work this year, start assembly and complete it completely next year,» he added.

Work is also underway on the construction of a hydroelectric plant in Alacranes, Villa Clara. He explained that this is a large-scale project from the point of view of civil construction, requiring more than 3,000 m³ of concrete. This power plant would provide 2.1 MW. He estimated that by the middle of the year all the resources for its execution will be in place.

The universities, he said, have supported us in the whole process, from the beginning of the conception of the parks to the training process for the operators of the parks.
Energy transition in search of efficiency

Ramsés Monte Calzadilla, director of policy and strategy at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, explained that the energy transition is very clear in the new sources of electricity generation that are being installed, which are photovoltaic and wind power. This is already a way of gaining efficiency, because they normally replace fossil fuel sources that use imported fuels and are inefficient, he said.

He added that, as part of the electricity generation strategy, the installation of batteries is also contemplated in order to accumulate more time. That is, not only for the stability of the system, but also to accumulate photovoltaic energy during the day and use it at night.

«When we look at other sectors of direct fuel use, such as transport, combustion vehicles, heat production in the food industry, in services, in hotels, using a boiler, it always involves burning fuel and these are usually very inefficient processes. This is where the issue of energy efficiency plays a key role.

«Energy efficiency is a key component in the transition to renewable energy sources,» he said. As an example, he mentioned the area of transport.

«A combustion vehicle, a car, for example, can have an efficiency of 10 km/l. An electric vehicle, i.e., when it is running on electricity, can be more efficient. An electric vehicle, that is, when we convert the energy to electricity, can do 40 to 50 km/l.

«That is, by the simple fact of changing the technology, because with the electric motor, as no fuel is burned, it is always more efficient, so with the same energy, the same energy values, more activity is done, more work is done with electricity. There are even fewer emissions, that’s another added value,» Monte Calzadilla said.

«Energy efficiency is fundamentally known for changing one inefficient piece of equipment for another, for example, when incandescent bulbs were replaced by fluorescent lighting, now we are even doing it with LEDs,» he said.

He also mentioned that «the concept of electrifying energy carriers for direct consumption is incorporated, because it already includes energy efficiency. And if that electricity, for example, to charge an electric vehicle, we do it with a renewable energy source, the consumption of combustion gases will be reduced.

Monte Calzadilla gave the example of the process of heating water. «In an industry, it could be a food industry or a hotel. Sometimes we have a boiler to burn diesel and produce steam, which requires a lot of energy to heat water to 85° and energy is wasted. The technology has been around for a long time, which is electric heat pumps. They work similar to an air conditioner or a refrigerator.

«The refrigerator cools on the inside, but the outside you touch it and it’s hot and the same with air conditioning, it cools a room, i.e. it takes the heat out of the room, cooling it and heating the outside environment. Heat pumps do exactly the same thing. They take energy from the environment and put it into a room to heat it or in this case into pipes to heat water.

«But they have the advantage that they are very efficient: they have an efficiency of 400%. That means that – for every electrical unit, because it is a system with a refrigeration and a compressor – for every electrical unit it consumes, that pump moves up to four units of heat. So we can replace a boiler with industrial heat pumps to heat water while consuming four times less energy.

«And since what is consumed is electricity, we make that electricity with solar photovoltaic panels and eliminate the use of fuel in the boiler. How many boilers do we have in the country? They also have another advantage: at the same time that the water is heated, on the other side it can cool and can provide air conditioning. In other words, a single unit performs two functions, so we are talking about energy efficiency linked to renewable energy and fuel consumption is zero,» the manager explained.

Monte Calzadilla pointed out that there is already experience in the country at the textile factory in the province of Villa Clara, where together with the Central University of Las Villas, advice is being provided on a project to incorporate this heat pump in the textile factory, which will allow a considerable reduction in fuel consumption for heating in the boiler and at the same time use it for air conditioning.

«This is a very important trend that we must take advantage of,» he emphasised.

He added that in the promotion of a culture in all sectors of society that allows the need for energy transition and efficiency to be understood, the support of universities in the territories is being fundamental, with this type of projects, many of them pilot projects, which are already showing good results and it is now a matter of generalising them.

He pointed out that Onure, the National Office for the Rational Use of Energy, which is dedicated to the control of energy carriers, is also playing an important role in the implementation of these types of energy efficiency projects in the territories.

«We are seeing a linkage between universities, companies, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, with the Onure, which is foreseen in all the axes of the law, where these types of technologies, the indicators of what needs to be done and how to move forward, in order to create this culture,» he said.

«In the world, many countries are making this transition, not only because of an environmental problem, but also because of an economic problem. The exploitation of these technologies is much more economical than fossil energy. That is to say, countries even with large oil reserves are betting on this transition.

«That is to say, for Cuba, which has to import more than half of the fuel the country needs, and today we cannot do so with the consequent effects on the economy and the population, these technologies, this transition is what will allow the country to improve and move towards sustainable development,» he said.

The executive mentioned that China is at the forefront of this transition in the world. «But, on a per unit scale, what our country is doing this year, the leap we are going to make in renewable energy, is probably among the first three countries in the world to move so quickly in the transition to renewable energy. This year and next year,» he concluded.