The Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry (ICAIC) received on Wednesday a donation of more than 70 solar panels from the German association Netzwerk InterRed Cooperación, as part of a bilateral cooperation agreement aimed at safeguarding the institution against the electricity crisis that is paralyzing Cuba.
The agreement was signed in January of this year by the president of ICAIC, Alexis Triana, and the director of the German organization, Lothar Reininger, through a sustainable collaboration letter aimed at ensuring the operational continuity of the organization's facilities, with a priority on the Digital Laboratory and the iconic Charles Chaplin cinema.
The delivery included the installation of technological supports on the rooftop of the main building of Cubacine to set up a grid-connected photovoltaic solar energy system that will support essential areas of the institution.
Triana announced on social media that the initiative now involves multiple stakeholders from the film industry: Proyecto Palomas, Casa Productora, Audiovisuales ICAIC, Estudios Cubanacán, Animados ICAIC, Distribuidora ICAIC, the Film Archive, the House of the Festival of New Latin American Cinema, and the Digital Laboratory.
Together, these spaces accumulate more than 80 solar panels, 40 lamps of the same technology, seven electric tricycles, and five alternative energy stations.
The need to turn to solar energy is not an institutional whim: Cuba is experiencing its worst recorded electrical crisis in 2026, with a deficit that reached 2,195 MW on Wednesday, against a available generation of only 1,105 MW in the face of a demand of 2,890 MW.
At the beginning of August, the country broke its own record for electrical deficit by exceeding 2,411 MW, and has experienced at least six total collapses of the National Electro-Energetic System during the year.
Power outages range from 15 to 24 hours daily in many areas, and in some cases, they exceed 80 consecutive hours.
That reality has directly impacted the cultural sector. The International Festival of New Latin American Cinema suffered interruptions in screenings due to power outages both in 2024 and 2025, and in July of this year, the ICAIC Summer Film Festival faced criticism for holding events while Havana was experiencing blackouts of up to 72 hours.
According to the official Prensa Latina, the initiative responds to the interest of the Ministry of Culture and the Presidency of Cuba in ensuring that “all socioeconomic actors promote new sources of electricity generation,” a directive supported by the regime with tariff incentives: Resolution 41/2026 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices maintains the exemption for importing panels, batteries, and inverters until December 2027.
Triana expressed gratitude for the efforts of Reininger and his team, members of the boards of the solidarity organizations InterRed, LAGG, and AMCA, and noted that "the agreement strengthens the infrastructure of ICAIC and reaffirms the value of international collaboration for the benefit of culture and audiovisual arts."
While the regime relies on foreign donations to keep its cinemas running, China sent a second shipment of 5,000 photovoltaic systems to Cuba at the beginning of August as part of the energy support to the country, highlighting that the solution to Cuba's electrical crisis continues to depend on external solidarity rather than its own energy policy.
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