Cuba to add two PV plants

Cuba will build two new photovoltaic (PV) plants on Juventud island and in Pinar del Río province to supply electricity to the national grid, according to state media.

The Juventud island plant will initially have a 4.5MW capacity when it goes on line in 2017, will save 28t/m of fossil fuels and requires a 3.5mn-peso (US$3.5mn) investment, local publication Juventud Rebelde quoted Antonio Figueredo Matos, head of PV projects at the state electricity company, as saying.

The PV plant will be the second of its kind on Juventud island.

Cuba also plans to build a PV plant in the western province of Pinar del Río that will generate 4,000MWh/y, supplying a sixth of the provincial capital's energy needs. It will require an 8.4mn-peso investment, according to local news portal Telepinar.

Cuba is aiming to reduce its dependency on oil and coal for electricity generation by increasing renewable energy sources.

Earlier this month, the government announced it was planning to build seven wind farms in the central, northern and eastern regions of the country.

Cuba's first wind farm, on Turiguanó island, has contributed 4,000M/h to the national grid since January 2001, saving more than 1,800t of coal, with which Cuba meets 98% of its power needs.

La Herradura, a 30MW capacity wind farm in Las Tunas, is currently under construction. It will be the country's largest and is set to begin operations in 2015 with turbines supplied by Chinese wind power company Goldwind International.

Cuba also plans to build 19 bioelectric plants at sugar cane mills, with a US$40mn investment, which will supply 755MW of power.

BNamericas will host its fourth LatAm Power Generation Summit in Santiago, Chile, on August 13-14. Click here to download the agenda.