Cuba is Scrambling to Deploy Solar Energy Amid Oil Blockade: Chinese Workers Have Been Helping, Starting Before the Blockade, Now Accelerating

      Cuba is fast-tracking and expanding its solar deployment amid the current U.S. oil blockade on the country. China is helping Cuba deploy solar. Even before the blockade, the country was struggling with frequent and sometimes long power blackouts due to an inadequate power grid, creating a severe energy crisis. These days, they can last longer than 24 hours.

     I have noted before that while I agree that pressure is needed on Cuba and the regime needs to be fixed or changed, the blockade is not the best way to go about it. It creates a humanitarian disaster that hurts everyone in the country, not just the government. According to CNN, Cuba is:

“…currently pulling off one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet, with help from China.”

     The solar push began well before the blockade. According to the Washington Post:

Chinese exports of solar equipment to Cuba “skyrocketed from about $5 million in 2023 to $117 million in 2025 and show no sign of stopping. Beijing pledged last year to help Cuba build more than 92 solar parks by 2028, and more than half of these projects have come online.” Along with providing materials, Chinese companies “have also been facilitating installation” and “working directly in Cuba to build solar farms.”

     The Cuban government has announced plans to move to 100% renewable power by 2050, but that is not likely to solve its energy problems, even if successful, due to the limitations of intermittent power.

     According to ‘The Week US’:

“The “installation of 52 solar photovoltaic parks has been completed, contributing more than 1,000 MWp and generating, at peak output, 38% of the energy consumed during daylight hours,” said Granma, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. Renewable energy “now accounts for some 10% of the island’s electricity, up from 3.6% in 2024,” said The Associated Press. However, “distribution remains limited, and few Cubans can afford such a system.”

“While solar power and renewable energy in general have ramped up in Cuba, it is “highly unlikely that, considering their current situation today, Cuba could achieve the goal of 100% renewables by the year 2050,” Jorge Piñon, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute, said to NBC News. The “surge may be rapid but solar power is not yet available at scale,” said CNN. Cuba’s solar parks are “small and scattered.” Solar power is “also only generated when the sun shines, meaning it cannot meet peak evening demand.”

     They note that the wealthier areas of Cuba, such as Havana, have more batteries deployed and are likely the only areas to succeed with solar plus battery options for round-the-clock power. Rural areas and poor areas likely won’t see much improvement from solar, and certainly won’t be able to afford expensive battery backup.

     Ultimately, we need a Cuba free of communist dictators, free of Russians, free of alliances with other U.S. adversaries, and with a democratic government. Then the country can rejoin the international community and become free and prosperous. Well over half century of oppressive government has done little for the country.

   

 

 

References:

 

Cuba’s solar expansion is happening fast. Devika Rao. The Week US. May 27, 2026. Cuba’s solar expansion is happening fast