Developing renewable energy in Cuba

Abstract

The collapse of the Soviet Union and dissolution of the socialist bloc at the end of the 1980s brought an end to trading terms that had allowed Cuba to trade sugar for oil and other imports at favourable rates, an arrangement that had helped Cuba rapidly develop its economy. The United States intensified the economic embargo on Cuba, making access to resources and up-to-date technologies difficult and expensive. This triggered an economic crisis, which Cubans euphemistically refer to as the Special Period that has put a major strain on this previously flourishing (relative to other Latin American countries) economy. As prices of energy and other resources have skyrocketed, production in the country has plummeted. North American specialists in energy conservation and alternative sources of energy journeyed to Cuba to learn how the Cubans are dealing with the energy aspects of this crisis. The paper discusses the development of renewable energy in Cuba. It considers wind power, hydroelectricity and photovoltaics.