Cuba Boosts Energy Generation through Photovoltaic Sources

Havana, July 14 .-Cuba is currently boosting the generation of electricity from renewable sources, including solar energy.

 

According to the Cuba’s portfolio of opportunities, there are potentialities here of approximately five kilowatts/hour (KWh) per square meter per day, which would favor the installation, until 2030, of 700 MWp (megawatt-pico) in photovoltaic solar parks connected to the National Electric System.

Once all the expected power is installed, more than 1,000 GWh/year will be produced and the emission of more than 874,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be avoided.

The most recent of the sites that favors this type of generation is the Cardenas I photovoltaic park, with an installed capacity of 3.75 MW.

The park, the result of a project financed in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), was opened in the city of Cardenas, 150 km east of Havana.

The facility is part of the 10 MW program that also includes three other parks located in the central territories of Sancti Spiritus and Camaguey.

The 8.6-hectare renewable energy facility features a novel design characterized by the way the panels are mounted on the base, capable of withstanding category five hurricanes, the highest intensity range, explained Hans-Jurgen, the company’s manager, at the time.

The General Director of Electricity of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba, Tatiana Amaran, recently announced that photovoltaic solar is one of the sources of greatest advances in Cuba; it has 65 built parks and another 15 are in process, which will increase the current installed power by 42 megawatts (MW).