Solar now meets 10% of Cuba’s power needs, up from 3%
Cuba has added around 1,000 megawatts of solar generating capacity over the past two years. At least 41 midsize and 18 smaller-scale solar parks have been built since January 2024, according to RenewAtlas, a database that tracks solar developments and satellite imagery. When operating at peak output, the new parks could generate nearly five times the solar capacity previously installed — almost one-third of the country’s typical peak demand of about 3,200 megawatts.
The Cuban government said solar now meets about 10% of the nation’s power needs, up from 3% at the start of 2025. The push accelerated after a series of nationwide blackouts in 2024, in part because Cuba’s imports of crude oil from Venezuela collapsed, said Ricardo Torres Pérez, a Cuban economist at American University. The government said in 2024 it plans to build 92 midsize parks by 2028.
Despite the surge in new solar capacity, Cubans are still spending much of their days without electricity. The island’s 10 million residents have suffered almost daily power outages as fuel supplies have dwindled, a crisis that worsened after the Trump administration blocked nearly all energy shipments to Havana in late January. Cuba said in May that it ran out of fuel reserves; the administration has since allowed some fuel shipments for private companies on the island.
China appears to be the main source of the new equipment. Beijing manufactures about 80% of the world’s solar panels and sent Cuba $117 million worth of equipment in 2025, up from $3 million in 2023, according to customs data. The data also show China sent more battery storage units this year. Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz has said the projects were partially financed with nickel revenues, and the government’s 2026 economic plan notes 320 megawatts worth of donated solar panels from China. Vietnam and Japan have donated smaller amounts of equipment.
China’s role in the region extends beyond Cuba. Beijing has rapidly increased climate-related donations and financing to the Caribbean, which is one of Beijing’s key transit zones for raw materials from Latin America, according to a research report from the Inter-American Dialogue. Over the past two decades, China has replaced the U.S. as the dominant trading partner for most big economies in the area. “China gets a lot of goodwill brownie points throughout the region with what they’re doing with Cuba,” said Jorge Piñón, who studies Cuban energy at the University of Texas.
The new capacity has done little to ease Cuba’s chronic energy problems. The island’s import-dependent grid was in a fragile state even before the U.S. cut off Venezuelan oil and threatened sanctions on countries supplying Havana with fuel, as fuel shipments and domestic oil production have declined for years. Fossil-fuel power plants have deteriorated over the past few decades, decreasing output, and degraded power lines cause the loss of about 16% of the grid’s electricity, according to research by Torres. The government is insolvent and has been unable to upgrade the grid.
The aging grid has also hampered the new solar parks. The country is using only a fraction of the solar capacity it has deployed because it lacks enough battery storage to manage the fluctuations inherent in solar power, the Cuban energy minister said in April. One battery was installed in July and three more are planned, according to state media. Families and organizations have also installed rooftop solar systems — China, Spain and other nations have donated thousands of panels for individual buildings — but the additions have yet to make a meaningful dent in the crisis.
At least six nationwide blackouts have hit Cuba this year, along with countless localized dayslong power outages, and failing living conditions have sparked protests across the country. Torres said the situation would be worse without the new parks. “Without the solar parks, the blackouts would be even worse,” he said. “But the reality is they’ve worsened nonetheless.”