Cuba has laid the foundations for 16.5 percent of power generation on the island to come from renewables by 2020, based on solar and wind energy. The director of Renewable Energy for Basic Industry, Manuel Menendez considers this as a strategic task in which each government agencies will be involved. Today only 3.8% of the Cuban energy comes from renewable sources.
Cuba calls for a change in the energy matrix based on less use of fossil fuels, to increased use of renewable sources, and is taking an important step in this field through increased use of wind, sun and forest and sugarcane waste.
The Cuban sugar industry is the mainstay of renewable energy development in the country, and the recently completed harvest has allowed to use sugarcane biomass to generate more than 469,000 kilowatt hours, equivalent to the electricity consumed for an entire month by more than half a million homes. According to experts, by 2013, the island could increase by 10% the electricity it produces from biomass, which would be decisive for the installation of bioelectric plants in several sugar refineries, allowing to produce power up to 290 days a year.
Water and wind are underused as is demonstrated by the fact that the use of this type of source generates only 1% of the country’s electricity. Studies by the National Electrical Union (SBU) have identified a potential of over 2,000 megawatts to generate electricity from wind, although technical analysis recommend the installation of approximately 600 MW. for the time being. Cuba currently has 7,500 operating wind turbines for agricultural use manufactured in house.
Raul Garcia UEN CEO, disclosed that the north eastern area of Cuba has the highest wind potential and it is where the construction of a 50 MW wind farm will start next year, taking into account the experiences of the three experimental parks that are currently in operation.
The potential reported in the Cuba Solar Map accounts for over 2,000 MW, thus works are underway in the western region for the construction of a 1 MW photovoltaic plant that will start operation in December this year and plans call for building additional plants in 2013 to reach a total generating capacity of 10 MW.
The biogas produced from manure of cattle and
pigs, also increases its presence in the island, where 239 biodigesters are currently operating with promising results and is intended to install some 300 additional ones each year. Similarly, the power generation from forest biomass, especially from the marabou and sawdust resulting from timber cutting is a reality in an increasing number of Cuban entities.
Cuba still produces 96 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels, but last year the emerging use of wind and water sources allowed to replace 31,150 tons of fuel and reduce CO2 emissions in excess of 100,000 tons.