Cuba moves forward in renewable energy sources, says Minister

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 10 (ACN) Cuba is making progress in the development of renewable energy sources (RES) with a goal to generate up to 24 percent of electricity through them by 2030, said Alfredo López, Minister of Energy and Mines.

Before the deputies of the Standing Committee of Industry, Constructions and Energy of the Cuban Parliament, Lopez detailed the advances in multiple programs of the island to use the RES and the efficient use of energy in the country.

According to Lopez, this is a policy that began in 2014 and which outlines the guidelines for replacing 1.75 million tons of crude oil annually starting in 2030, gradually modifying the energy matrix in the nation.

In the working session that took place prior to the ninth regular session of the VIII Legislature of the National Assembly of People's Power, he specified that 191 solar photovoltaic parks are planned to be completed, of which 22 are in operation, while about 30 included in the current year´s plan and 27 are planned for 2018.

He also referred to the preparation and negotiation of 11 bioelectric plants, four of them to be made with state bank loans and seven under joint ventures, and he said that there are 14 more included in the portfolio of opportunities for foreign investment.

He pointed out that when all bioelectric plants are operational, by 2027, they would generate 14 percent of the country's electricity.

He also mentioned the program for the use of wind energy, with the projection of 14 parks, 11 of them under the modality of foreign investment, and which together would favor the substitution of 540 thousand tons of fuel annually.

Lopez also addressed in the development of projects for the exploitation of hydroelectric power and the installation of biogas plants.

He mentioned that, in order to stimulate savings, the residential sector also will gradually implement the program of sale and installation of LED lamps, induction cookers, solar heaters and photovoltaic modules, the latter destined for isolated dwellings that do not receive electricity.

In Cuba there are 12 thousand homes without electricity, a situation that is expected to be reversed progressively until February next year, according to the Minister of Energy and Mines.