Cuba’s electricity system has come under intense pressure in recent years, shaped by decades of US sanctions, an ageing oil-based grid, and chronic fuel shortages due to restrictions on imports from Russia and Venezuela – a function of the US’s illegal and suffocating blockade. With peak demand reaching 2,500 MW and shortfalls of up to 1,300 MW, widespread daytime power cuts have caused significant disruptions to daily life, from water pumping to refrigeration. While emergency repairs and energy-efficiency measures—supported partly by Russian engineering—have stabilised around 850 MW, the fundamental solution being pursued is based on restructuring Cuba’s energy matrix toward renewable sources.
In this project, China has emerged as Cuba’s most vital partner. In 2024–25, China helped launch an ambitious programme of 55 solar farms capable of supplying 1,200 MW by the end of the year, with 37 more planned by 2028. This collaboration directly addresses Cuba’s shortfalls and reduces its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Chinese assistance also includes refurbishing wind turbines and supplying distributed-generation equipment, spare parts, and thousands of photovoltaic systems for isolated homes.
A recent landmark inauguration in Guanajay of the Mártires de Barbados II solar park symbolises this deepening partnership. The project, part of a Chinese donation that will add 120 MW to Cuba’s grid, was completed in record time thanks to tight coordination between Chinese and Cuban companies. The second phase, already underway, will add another 85 MW plus battery storage. Addressing the inauguration, Chinese Ambassador Hua Xin stated that these efforts embody China’s commitment to Cuba’s sustainable development and to building a China–Cuba community with a shared future. Cuban officials echoed this sentiment, emphasising that the new solar parks will save tens of thousands of tons of imported fuel annually, cut nearly 50,000 tons of CO₂ emissions, and significantly reduce service disruptions.
Against a backdrop of US hostility and sanctions, China’s steady, practical support is helping Cuba advance toward energy sovereignty, economic resilience, and a cleaner, more secure future.
We republish below a report on the inauguration from Granma, the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, along with the text of a speech by British environmental campaigner Paul Atkin at the National Education Union (NEU) Cuba Solidarity Education Conference on 15th November about Cuba’s turn to solar power.
China’s cooperation with Cuba in the energy sector remains strong and steady
Guanajay, Artemisa.– “China’s cooperation with Cuba in the energy sector remains strong and steady, from ongoing projects, such as equipment and spare parts for distributed generation, the 5,000 photovoltaic systems for isolated homes, and the installation of other solar photovoltaic parks (PSFV) with a total capacity of 85 MW, to the next project to install another 200 MW and the new 5,000 photovoltaic systems for isolated homes.”
This was stated by the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the island, Hua Xin, during the inauguration in Guanajay, Artemisa, of the seventh 5 MW PSFV of the first stage of a donation from the Party, the Government, and the people of the sister country, which will add 120 MW to the National Electric System (SEN).
The official launch of Mártires de Barbados II was led by the First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and it is now connected to the SEN, as are its 5 MW counterparts built in several provinces, with a combined generation capacity of 35 MW.
Following the completion of this phase, the second stage, already underway, is expected to be completed by next April and will include 13 5 MW PSFV and two 10 MW PSFV, with a total power of 85 MW and batteries to store 20% of the generation produced.
“Each of these steps,” said the diplomat, “demonstrates China’s commitment to Cuba’s sustainable development. In the future,” he confirmed, “our country is willing to continue strengthening this cooperation, thus contributing to the construction of the China-Cuba community with a shared future.”
When describing the benefits of the seven new PSFV units, as the first stage of the donation, Hua Xin commented that they will save around 18,000 tons of imported fuel annually.
“From the signing of the project exchange of notes, the arrival of the first batch of equipment, to the full connection to the grid today, the efficient collaboration between Chinese and Cuban companies has achieved impressive speed, marking a new stage in the collaboration between the two countries in the field of clean energy,” said the representative of the Asian giant.
“And the strategic significance of this project,” he added, “is profound. At the social level, it will provide the population with a clean, stable, and reliable electricity supply, thus improving their well-being. At the economic level, the savings in foreign currency will boost Cuba’s economic recovery. And at the environmental level, the annual reduction in carbon emissions will contribute to global climate governance.”
Also participating in the inauguration of the PSFV Mártires de Barbados II were Gladys Martínez Verdecia, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Provincial Party Committee in Artemisa; Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Trade and Investment; and Gerardo Peñalver Portal, first deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, among other dignitaries.
On the Cuban side, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Déborah Rivas Saavedra conveyed “on behalf of the Cuban government, party, and people, the deepest and most sincere gratitude to the government of the People’s Republic of China, the China International Development Cooperation Agency, and the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchange for their arduous efforts to execute this project in the shortest time possible.”
She praised the Chinese authorities for giving the initiative “emergency treatment in order to support our country in the complex situation facing the National Electric System,” as well as the technical collaboration between the Chinese and Cuban institutions that participated.
She recalled that the PSFV Mártires de Barbados II was built in record time after supplies arrived last July. Like the other six 5 MW plants, it will contribute an estimated 8,000 MWh, for a total of 56,000 MWh per year, which will help reduce service disruptions during daytime hours and increase installed electricity generation capacity.
Highlighting the contribution of this donation to the transformation of the national energy matrix by increasing the use of renewable and clean energies, the Deputy Minister of Mincex emphasized its environmental impact, which “will be significant, as a total of 49,280 tons of carbon dioxide will no longer be emitted into the atmosphere.” In addition, it will contribute to the national effort to achieve energy sovereignty and independence.
Rivas Saavedra reported that, following the completion of the first 35 MW stage, with seven 5 MW PSFV units, rapid progress is being made on the second phase of the project, involving a further 85 MW.
He argued that to this end, “the first supplies have arrived in the country and the rest will be received before the end of this year, which will allow for its construction and commissioning in the first quarter of 2026.”
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment reiterated her gratitude “for the systematic gestures of support from the People’s Republic of China to Cuba at this complex time we are facing, in particular the cooperation in the energy sector.”
She also thanked “the Chinese government for its prompt response in offering its solidarity and assistance in recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, with donations of food, galvanized steel coils for the production of roofing for homes, mattresses, solar lights, among other items, which will benefit those affected in the eastern provinces.”
“All these signs of cooperation from the Chinese government,” he said, “confirm the special nature of our ties and are a practical expression of the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Cuba.”
Cuba’s solar turn
In the last year there have been numerous reports of the fragility of Cuba’s power grid, resulting from four major incidents of widespread power cuts.
The problems of the grid are based on
- over reliance on ageing oil fired power stations, supplying 84% of electricity supply, which have been difficult to maintain under the US sanctions regime
- fuel shortages, as most of the oil is imported from Russia or Venezuela, both of which are also under stringent US sanctions; one of which is in a proxy war with the US, the other threatened with imminent invasion by it.
- the impact of US financial sanctions choking off access to loans to finance improvements in the system.
Peak daytime demand can reach up to 2500 MW, leaving a gap of between 800 and 1300 MW leading to widespread cuts.
These power cuts – not uncommon in the global South – have a hard impact on people’s lives, from cutting off water pumps and refrigeration (so you’re food goes bad) to knocking out communications. Back up generators are often insufficient because they also depend on diesel, which is in short supply, thanks to the sanctions again
The way out of this crisis has had two aspects.
1) Investment in repair and maintenance and energy efficiency in the existing fossil fuel grid with some engineering support from Russia, firming up 850 MW of supply.
2) Work with Chinese assistance this year to build 55 solar farms capable of generating 1200 MW, which should be enough to cover any shortfalls by the end of the year – with a further 37 solar farms due to be completed by the end of 2028 to account for increases in demand and provide a bit of a buffer. On a smaller scale, 22 wind turbines are being refurbished to generate another 30MW.
We should not that this development is not peculiar to Cuba, but is becoming a pattern across the global South. 60% of developing countries now have a higher proportion of their electricity generated by sustainable sources than the US does.
Fig 1 shows the pace of this.
As the US under the Trump administration abandons Biden’s ambitions for an America First energy transition, with the inflation reduction Act as a magnet to pull green investment into the USA and away from its competitors (and allies) – with, as now the world’s leading petro state – a straightforward reactionary attempt to prolong the fossil fuel era as long as possible- the rest of the world, when it can avoid being strong armed into forced contracts to buy environmentally ruinous US LNG with a carbon footprint 30% worse than coal per unit of energy – is moving fats towards electrification.
This is underpinned by several factors.
1. Its cheaper, especially solar – and getting more so. As a relatively new technology we are seeing rapid gains in efficiency and cost reductions. Costs fall about 20% every time deployment doubles. And we’re currently on course for more than doubling by 2030 and trebling by 2035. So, now 2/3 of global energy capital goes into electro-tech. FFs by contrast are becoming more expensive as old established fields like the North Sea dry up and new fields are relatively difficult and expensive to extract from.
2. It cuts costs long term because once the panels are in and the wind turbines up, there’s no need to import fuel. The wind blows. The sun shines. The batteries store. No charge. This underpins related decisions like Ethiopia banning the import of FF cars because they want to cut their fuel import bills.
3. Fossil fuels are wasteful. 2/3 of energy generated is lost. Electric motors are 2 to 4 times as efficient. So we can do a lot more with a lot less. A way to envisage this is in Fig 2. One container ship of SPs will generate as much electricity as 50 ships full of LNG and 100 ships full of coal. This is also true of mining, in which the total amount of extracted metals required for sustainability by mid century as equivalent to the amount of coal mining that had to be done to meet demand just in 2023.
With 70% of the world’s renewable energy potential in the global south and the massive potential supply, primarily from China, that we can see in Fig 3, there is now a real potential for generating a non polar world, in which each place becomes free to express its unique version of our common humanity by breaking the lock hold that FF based imperialist countries have on them.
The Trump administration’s attempt to assert “US Global Energy Dominance” is currently taking the form of a threatened invasion of Venezuela, to get direct control of the world’s largest energy reserves and the rare earths it needs, not for the energy transition but for its military.
One last domestic point. While delegates at the COP have been heard expressing relief that the US government isn’t there sabotaging the process from the inside – they are corralling their political supporters everywhere on common toxic themes of climate change denial, racism, repression, deregulation and privatisation, militarisation and the insidious intrusion of big US tech companies into monitoring every aspect of our lives. As Kemi Badenoch puts it to the FT, for the Conservative Party now “The model is Javier Millei”.
In this sense, the NEU’s internationalism, anti war, anti racism and climate campaigning come together, and we should coordinate more.
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