Cuba

    General Info
    • Population (million)
      11.5
    • Land Area (sq km)
      110860
    • GDP (million USD)
      100
    Power Generation Capacity by Fuel Type
    • Fossil Fuels (%)
      94.8
    • Other (%)
      5.2
    Wind Energy Statistics
    • Installed Capacity (MW)
      12
    • Small Wind Capacity (kW)
      2
    • Share of Wind - electricity generation (%)
      1
    Policy & Regulations Overview

    Cuba hopes to generate a quarter of its energy needs from renewable sources over the next decade.The government's Renewable Energy Development Program aims to raise clean energy output from today's 4 percent to 24 percent by 2030 according to the information coming from the Ministry of Energy and Mines. This Program was approved by the Cuban Parliament and the Minister Council in 2014.
    The plan focuses on solar power, but other alternative sources have also been prioritized, including bioelectric plants linked to the sugar industry, wind farms and hydraulic power facilities.
    Spite the Foreign Investments Law allows the participation of foreign investors in energy projects; till 2019 specific renewable energy legislation did no exist. The legislation for the renewable energy was in developing state.An evaluation process and search of the best international experiences has been carried out in order to establish a firm and secure legislation for the present and future.
    Just on November 2019 was promulgated the Law Decree 345 on the Development on Renewable Energy Resources and Efficient Use of Energy. This Law Decree covers all the renewable energy resources including wind energy.
    Cuba considers suitable the investments on renewable energy projects based on mixed capital or completely foreign (BOOT).

    Wind Resources Overview

    A 2006 version of Cuban Wind Map has been elaborated by Cuban professionals totally. This Wind Map offers a detailed distribution of wind resource. It is the first characterization of the wind energy potential in the country.

    Based on the application of Riso Laboratory micro scale WASP model and using the surface data from 40 meteorological stations belonging to the National Meteorological Network, the wind map has been elaborated.
    A recent Cuban Wind Atlas was launched in 2013. Cuba's wind energy atlas stands out among the island's achievements shown at the 12th World Wind Energy Conference in Havana.This is the result of an international project between the Center for Atmospheric Physics of the Cuban Meteorology Institute and Environment Canada's weather division.

    This wind atlas could use not only for large wind power generators, but also for small and medium generators and windmills for pumping water in agriculture..
    One of the advantages is that it is interactive, and anyone with internet access can get the results of this atlas, which reveals the wind speed at any point of the Cuban geography at four different levels, namely at heights of 10, 30, 50 and 100 meters.
    The project also provides measurements of humidity, temperature, pressure, and wind direction.

    Wind Industry Overview

    Except for a couple of small wind turbine informal manufacturers (typical range 1.0-1.5 kW), there is no wind turbines manufacturing industry in Cuba in a classic manner. However, the development level of the Cuban industry is able to support the wind turbine production. As a result of recent studies, various components of wind turbines (tower, nacelle, electric parts, cables, transformer and other) could be produce in Cuba. Nowadays a Cuban factory is in stage of developing to produce towers of different heights by the next year. The Cuban Industry is interested on established a profitable wind turbine technology transfer in order to support the production of these machines and their components in the country.

    Author

    Prof. Conrado Moreno

    Company/Organization

    CETER - CUJAE