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Cuba is racing to expand solar power as a US oil blockade cripples the island’s economy, and some of the panels are now coming from the US itself.
Getting into it: In an interview with Reuters, Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said the island has installed 144 solar farms with about 1,418 megawatts of capacity in recent years. President Miguel Díaz-Canel says renewables now make up about 21% of the country’s electricity, up from just 9% in 2023.
The push comes after President Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments in January and threatened heavy tariffs on any country sending oil to Cuba, and only one Russian tanker has reached Havana since then. The US allows fuel shipments to Cuba’s private sector but bars them for state-run industries, and de la O Levy said the private sector accounts for less than 3% of the island’s fuel needs.
US exports of solar cells and modules to Cuba hit $6.3 million in the first seven months of the year, up 1,070% from the same period last year, according to Census data reported by Bloomberg. Most of those panels are going to private households and businesses, while China, still by far the biggest supplier, sells to the state. Cuba has suffered seven nationwide blackouts this year, and its solar farms do little at night because US sanctions bar battery storage exports to Cuba, leaving the country with just 50 megawatts of storage installed.
This all comes as the Trump administration presses a “maximum pressure” campaign it has said is aimed at toppling Cuba’s government. The UN and human rights groups say the blockade breaks international law, and Cubans are running short on fuel, water and medicine as the island edges closer to a humanitarian crisis.
