Photovoltaic solar parks in Cuba: a project based on science and innovation 

Photo: Estudios Revolución

One of the greatest challenges facing the National Electric System (SEN) is to eliminate the effects on the electric service by increasing the country's generation capacity and, in turn, energy efficiency: the ways to achieve this goal are multiple and complex.According to the explanation offered by engineer Lázaro Guerra Hernández, general director of Electricity of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem), in conversation with the press team of the Presidency, the strategy followed for the generation of SEN is to prioritize national sources as a support for the energy independence that Cuba needs.To this end, it is essential, he said, to have a "diversified generation matrix, which prioritizes its own sources, such as domestic crude oil, gas from Cuban oil extraction, and renewable energy sources."Regarding the last of these three topics, Guerra Hernández said that it is an essentially scientific issue that has been strengthened more strongly in the national territory in the course of the last decade, since the approval, in 2014, of the Policy for the perspective development of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.As part of that strategy, the use of photovoltaic solar energy has been promoted in Cuba, for which - since the beginning of 2024 - a broad investment process consisting of two projects is being carried out. The first one will allow the installation of 1,000 megawatts, in a period of two years; the second project, with the same amount of generation, should be ready in 2031."There are 26 photovoltaic solar parks that are currently in different phases of construction in all the provinces, which means an enormous constructive effort for the country", stressed Alfredo López Valdés, general director of Electrical Union, when exchanging with the press team.The engineering of each park, he said, is a science, and although the final result is very similar, the electrical conditions of each place are not exactly the same, which requires an exhaustive work, from the very moment the studies begin to select the place where each one of them will be located.Precisely, all this effort that is being carried out in the nation was the subject of analysis in the most recent meeting of the National Innovation Council chaired by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, in which the first results of this cardinal project were presented.At that meeting, Doctor of Science Lídice Vaillant, head of the Photovoltaic Research Laboratory of the University of Havana, explained that nearly one million photovoltaic panels have already been installed, and another 3.6 million panels will be installed. This means, he stressed, that in two years the power installed in the last ten years will be multiplied by about five times."Reaching the proposed installed power by 2031 would place Cuba at an estimated 12% photovoltaic penetration in the country's energy generation," he explained at the CNI meeting.The two referred projects, said the General Director of Electricity of the Minem, have been worked together with universities, to achieve a design that allows both to be properly integrated into the National Electric System.T"he installation of the parks is a project based exclusively on science and innovation," he emphasized. "From its conception, it was necessary to think about how such an important generation as solar photovoltaic, which is also variable, could be adequately integrated into the National Electric System, taking into account, above all, the change of paradigm in generation that this means," he said.According to his assessment, there were many challenges that had to be overcome from the technical point of view to integrate this generation into the electric system, taking into account how variable the photovoltaic solar matrix can be due to the behavior of the climate.In addition to foreseeing the possible impact on the system, he reflected, it is necessary to train the operators of the farms, the builders and, in general, all those involved in the projects.This, he reaffirmed, is a holistic project, from its conceptualization to its operation, since a significant number of the country's entities participate in it in an integrated manner.Hence the importance given by Guerra Hernández to the presentation of the topic at the National Innovation Council, a space in which, from the rigor of science, experts from universities and other scientific institutions made important suggestions in order to contribute to its improvement.That moment, he valued, became a closure for the research work carried out, which is of constant study and evaluation, and has allowed us to have a more comprehensive design.Science, innovation, organization, foresight, research and leadership are essential and indispensable elements for the execution and finally implementation of the designed project. Cuba needs all the efforts to strengthen its Electric System, and this knowledge is key in order to achieve such an important objective for the life of the country.