The first of the 55 parks of Photovoltaic generation which will be installed this year in Cuba on Thursday to the National Electrical System (SEN), which must contribute 21.8 megawatts (MW) in the middle of the Energy crisis that the country lives.
The Nursing School Installation, nestled in the Havana municipality of the Cotorro, is part of a project designed as a strategy to recover a system unable to raise the demand for electricity, due to the continuous breaks of its old and overexploited thermoelectric plants, and the fault of the necessary fuel for the operation of the distributed generation engines.
Already synchronized photovoltaic park, Cotorro Nursing School in #Lahabana First of the 92 of the new investor process.
The recovery of the first priority.
Next week we will be inaugurating another park similar to this.#Unidosxcuba We will win! pic.twitter.com/lkdqchvlfh– Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba (@energiaminascub) Februry 21, 2025
The park must contribute annually around 37 gigawatts/hour, which would allow saving about 8100 tons of diesel dedicated to generation, according to the projections of the specialists, cited For the website Cubadebate.
Ricardo Mangana, director of the Energy Renewable Fuentes Company (EMFRE), told the environment that the site had begun to generate using sunlight as a source since last Monday, and that it had reached a maximum power of 21.7 one day before its official opening.
The park is operated by 31 qualified engineers and workers, according to the Presidency’s website.
98 photovoltaic parks until 2028
The strategy proposed by the Cuban government to overcome the prolonged and acute energy crisis includes the installation of 98 photovoltaic parks until 2028, with Supplies and advice from China; In conjunction, they would have the ability to contribute around 2000 MW to SEN.
Cuba must install this year 55 photovoltaic parks of the 92 in plan up to 2028
This program seeks to recover generation capabilities by a faster and less expensive. Independent calculations, managed by the agency EFEyou establish that the Cuban government would specify between 8,000 and 10 billion dollars to refloat the SEN, an investment out of reach.
With this initiative, it is intended to cushion the impact of the tortuous blackouts that have gradually aggravated until it marks a new record last week, when only 43 % of the demand could be satisfied.
High deficits in the week
The critical situation remains with slight variations, and throughout this Thursday there was affectation to the service.
The Electric Union (UNE) calculated for the maximum demand schedule on Friday a real condition around 1564 MW.
Two thermoelectric plants without generating, due to breakdowns, and four detainees for maintenance have the ability of the SEN to cover a good part of the 3250 MW that customers would demand in that time slot.
It also influences the critical situation that 77 distributed generation plants, with the capacity to provide 418 MW, do not have fuel for its operation. The number has increased in the day.
The frequent cuts of the electric power supply have had a remarkable impact on the Cuban economy, which contracted 1.9 % in 2023 and did not grow last year, according to official statistics.
