Cuban Gov. Admits Solar Parks Will Not Solve Energy Crisis

Domestic oil production fell to 40,000 barrels per day in 2024 and only covers a third of the national needs.

By 14ymedio

HAVANA TIMES – As if he were acting in a suspense series, Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, is gradually revealing information in an interview with the official newspaper Granma, which published chapter 1 this Monday. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will know in more detail if the new Chinese solar parks will provide electricity only during the day, as they do not yet have the “batteries that accumulate the charge for when there is no sun.”

However, the minister has already gutted much of the script by recognizing that photovoltaic energy and renewables in general will not solve the deep crisis of the national electricity system (SEN).

The authorities said a few weeks ago that four facilities with a capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) are expected, but De la O Levy specifies in the interview that they haven’t yet put in the batteries . “Let’s say there is the whole container, with the entire automatic part, the electronics and other components. Only at the end does the battery go in,” he clarified. The quick explanation given by the minister is that they will not be unloaded for a while, and their placement is simple – “like drawers” – so progress has to be made first on the construction.

However, the official added that the mere fact that the parks generate only during the day already reduces the bulky fuel bill. “When we have 1,000 MW of renewable energy, we will be saving fuel, which is fuel that we can rely on for generation at night,” he says.

The interview focuses, in large part, on fossil energy. De la O Levy made it clear that the import of oil is a bottomless pit for state accounts. “The oil bill is the largest in Cuba – more than food, more than medicine, more than anything. And of the imported fuel needed to sustain the entire economy, electricity generation is the largest consumer: more than half of all the fuel used by the country goes to generating electricity. Agriculture, the pumping of water, the sugar harvest, transportation, the entire chain of the domestic economy: everything consumes less fuel than the generation of electricity,” he claims.

In these circumstances, the minister explains, national oil production, which is essential for thermoelectric plants, cannot be allowed to fall. Its decline is due, he says, to the same reason as the failure of the power plants. “Deterioration, lack of resources, spare parts. Oil production is not drilling a well and that’s it, it starts to come out. No.” De la O Levy says that the country did not have the supplies to keep many wells active, and they had to be closed. In addition, he said, there are few pipelines to move the crude oil. It has to be moved by road, which returns us to the starting point: there is no fuel.

The official explains that an analysis certified that “not even national crude oil would be enough for the thermoelectric plants. Moreover, even if we had all the thermoelectric plants available it would not be enough,” he says. As the Communist Party newspaper points out, production dropped to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, which “only covers a third of consumption.” By way of comparison, it can be remembered that in 2008, Cupet extracted 68,493 bpd – 71% more – according to the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (Onei).

The minister gives a detailed explanation about the Cuban thermoelectric plants, designed to operate with “excellent quality fuel” from the USSR. “When the Soviet Union disappeared, we stopped having, overnight, all the fuel, which reached 12 million tons [a year],” he says. This forced the thermoelectric plants to be adapted to the national crude oil, which is highly corrosive.

“The life of thermoelectric generation units was shortened, the period between maintenance, because Cuban crude oil has very high levels of sulfur and vanadium, which, when burned in the boilers and there is humidity, generate sulfuric acid, which accelerates corrosion. This is combined with the deterioration due to old age, due to the years of operation of the thermoelectric plants,” he details. And he gives a concrete example: “If a bearing lasts 60,000 hours and at 60,000 hours you don’t replace it, it will break, which triggers a progressive deterioration of the system.”

De la O Levy confirms that there has been a very significant drop in investment for energy generation: from more than 1 billion dollars and up to 2 billion at the time of the Energy Revolution in 2005, to the 250 or 350 billion that would be needed now “if the electrical system were working well.” But, he recognizes, there have been years in which it has not been possible to invest that money. “It has not been possible, because the country has not had enough income, due to the limitations we know. So, if oil production is decreasing, if we do not have the finances to import the millions of tons that the economy needs, the first thing [we must do] is to stop that decrease, while reducing fuel consumption and expanding generation capacity.

That is when the conclusion is reached, the minister explains, that photovoltaics has all the elements to recover a good share of the energy system as quickly as possible, despite the skepticism of the authorities. “There were colleagues who warned that it would be a very difficult process to invest in this situation when there is no cement, steel and many other resources,” he says.

To save this situation, moderate parks (21 MW) have been chosen in different provinces. The latter makes the investment territorial, which is the first thing that helps since, if there is no sun in one park, there may in another. “The average distance designed between parks is just eight kilometers. There may be shade in the area of one park, and in the other, eight kilometers away, there might not be the same shade. It is a distribution design that also helps the regulation of voltage, from the National Electric Charge Office,* and through a system that is also being used with the installation.”

At this point the journalist asks for an explanation about the accumulation of energy, and it is revealed that the containers have arrived but the batteries have not yet been installed. “It will be necessary to detail this explanation later,” the editor intervenes, notifying the readers that they will have to wait for the next installment of the interview.

De la O Levy also insists that it is impossible to make a direct calculation and think that if the country has 1,500 MW of deficit, with 1,000 MW from the photovoltaics there will still be a third unresolved. The forecast is for the peak schedule. On the other hand, the effect will be varied. It will depend on whether the imported fuel has arrived for distributed generation, the condition of the thermoelectric plants, the climate and the generation of the [solar] parks.

To date, there are three synchronized and functional solar parks: School of Nursing (Havana), Mayor (Cienfuegos) and La Sabana (Granma).

In addition, the minister also indicates that the wells are producing 6% of the proven national reserves, and it is necessary to investigate to take advantage of at least 10% or more. “Areas have been identified in which there are oil fields: Boca de Jaruco, between Fraile and Jibacoa; the area of La Habana del Este and Alamar; and south of the deposits of Puerto Escondido and Canasí. This year an exploratory campaign is planned that will allow the incorporation of between three and five wells.” The minister did not consider it necessary to explain how the closure of production wells is compatible with the decision to open new ones.

* The National Electric Charge Office is subordinate to the Electric Union of Cuba, which operates the National Electro-Energy System.

Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba.

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