Cuban regime officials presented a series of advancements in renewable energy during the television program Cuadrando la Caja , but they omitted the two total blackouts that the island experienced that same month of March.
The program, broadcast on March 29 and published on Cubadebate on April 6, brought together Rosell Guerra Campaña, Director of Renewable Energies at the Ministry of Energy and Mines; Adriano García Hernández, expert from the Ministry of Economy and Planning; and Edel Gómez Gómez, General Director of the Camilo Cienfuegos Electronic Industry Company.
This is what the officials did admit
- In 2025, Cuba installed 1,000 MW additional of photovoltaic solar energy, raising renewable generation from 3% to 10% of the total consumed in the country.
- Solar generation costs between six and seven cents per kWh, compared to more than twenty cents for fossil fuel.
- More than 10,000 photovoltaic systems have been installed in homes: 4,000 for public health workers, 3,000 for education, and 3,000 for higher education.
- There are 21 solar filling stations operating in various locations across the country, including at the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Transport.
- By 2026, the government aims to incorporate more than 500 MW additional capacity, expecting to achieve 15% renewable generation.
This is what they didn't say
- El March 16 Cuba sufrió un total blackout of the National Electric System that lasted 29 hours y 29 minutos, con una disponibilidad de solo 1,140 MW frente a una demanda de 2,347 MW.
- El March 22 se produjo un second general blackout, triggered by a failure in unit 6 de la Central Termoeléctrica Nuevitas, que dejó a más del 90% de La Habana sin electricidad.
- El déficit de generación rondó los 1,800-1,900 MW durante todo marzo, y el 4 de abril la The Guiteras Thermal Power Plant went offline due to a malfunction, with deficits of up to 1,845 MW.
- El April 2, autoridades de Baracoa impusieron un prior authorization of up to 15 days to install solar panels en viviendas, una nueva traba burocrática que contradice el discurso oficial de facilitar la transición.
- The government did not provide specific deadlines to address the structural generation deficit, which requires over 3,600 MW to meet the country's actual demand.
The gap between the official narrative and reality is striking: while officials celebrated the jump from 3% to 10% in renewable energy generation, the island was experiencing its fifth and sixth total collapse of the electrical system in a year and a half.
Solar energy, without large-scale battery storage systems, only operates during daylight hours and does not address the nighttime power outages experienced by the Cuban population, which has suffered from decades of disinvestment and a dictatorship that has neither been able nor willing to modernize its energy infrastructure.
Filed under: