MIAMI, United States. – Decree 110/2024 of the Council of Ministers, entitled “Regulations for the control and efficient use of energy carriers and renewable energy sources” and published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cubaforesees the occurrence of blackouts totals in the country for more than three days.
The document indicates that citizens must prepare for electrical interruptions prolonged.
According to Article 40.1 of Chapter VI, called “Energy contingency regime”, “the Minister of Energy and Mines proposes to the Council of Ministers the special electrical contingency regime when the National Electroenergy System fails to satisfy the demand of the system with the capacity of generation, so it is necessary to affect the electrical service in a planned and sustained manner for more than 72 hours.”
The decree also specifies that the Council of Ministers “approves or not within a period of 48 hours the electrical contingency regime proposed by the Minister of Energy and Mines.”
In the recitals of the standard, it is explained that it is necessary to “establish the regulations for the control and efficient use of energy carriers and renewable energy sources in a period of stability of the national electro-energy system and when an electrical contingency regime is declared; as well as the measures applicable to detected violations.”
In addition, the rule provides that high electricity consumers in Cuba will have a period of up to three years to install renewable energy sources, with the objective of guaranteeing at least 50% of their electricity consumption during peak daytime hours. Article 4.1 establishes that economic actors, both state and non-state, and foreign investment modalities must comply with a series of requirements.
These requirements include “energy efficiency and conservation requirements for new investments, remodeling, expansions and changes in use or technologies”, designed “with principles of bioclimatic architecture, energy-efficient technologies with the use of renewable energy sources.” ”, according to section d. They must also comply with “the monthly plan, technically substantiated energy performance indicators and planned activity levels” (subsection e), and “the peak hour electricity consumption plan” (subsection f).
The decree emphasizes that, in new investments considered high consumers, “fifty (50%) percent of the electricity consumed during peak daytime hours must be guaranteed with renewable energy sources” (subsection k). If this is not possible due to space or structure limitations, “the installed power contracts in the photovoltaic solar parks are signed with the Electrical Union”, according to section l.
Sanctions for non-compliance vary depending on the type of economic actor. For state actors, fines range between 2,500 and 5,000 Cuban pesos, while for non-state actors and foreign investment modalities, the amounts range from 15,000 to 20,000 Cuban pesos. According to Article 11.2, non-state actors and foreign investment modalities “pay the amount of the fine with their assets.” In the case of state actors, “the person responsible for the management, department, group or work area pays the amount of the fine with his or her personal assets” (Article 11.3).
Violations that may result in fines and 72-hour power shutoffs include:
- “Unjustifiably failing to comply with energy performance indicators and planned activity levels for each activity and process.”
- “Use air conditioning equipment in non-technological premises, at temperatures below 24º C.”
- “Have refrigeration equipment and non-hermetic air-conditioned areas.”
- “Failure to comply with or not have the electricity consumption plan for peak hours, where applicable.”
Regarding fuel control, the violations include not carrying out periodic analyzes of operations with prepaid cards, failing to maintain custody of said cards, and having outdated consumption standards for fuel-consuming equipment.
