As the U.S. starves it of oil, Cuba is pulling off one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet — with China’s help
Cuba is struggling with devastating nationwide blackouts as the United States’ effective oil blockade strangles fuel supplies. But this crisis may also be accelerating a China-backed clean energy revolution that’s been quietly unfolding in the Caribbean nation.
Cuba is currently pulling off one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet, with help from China, according to data from the energy think tank Ember. Imports of Chinese solar panels and batteries have soared over the past year and, with Chinese investment, Cuba has built dozens of solar parks.
The country is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, but some experts believe the intense U.S. pressure — with threats to take “control” of the island — may hasten Cuba’s path toward clean energy. More renewables mean less dependence on fuel imports, helping “remove this lever of coercion,” said Kevin Cashman, an economist with the Transition Security Project, a U.S.-U.K. research organization.
...
A big part of the country’s clean energy push is an agreement with China to open 92 solar parks across the country by 2028, projected to bring a total of 2 gigawatts of solar power online, enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel opened the first in February 2025 and there are now around 50 online, dotted across the island. Cuba has installed around 1 gigawatt of solar in the last 12 months alone, Graham said, “that does actually make a pretty meaningful dent in the in the power mix of a country the size of Cuba.”
Renewable energy now makes up roughly 10% of Cuba’s electricity, up from around 3% in 2024. “It’s a really, really rapid boom,” Graham said. The country has pledged that figure will rise to at least 24% by 2030.
The benefits of solar for Cuba are clear. Costs of clean technology have plummeted in recent years and solar is relatively fast to install, Graham said. The infrastructure lasts decades and, once set up, needs only sunshine.
There’s a benefit for China, too, which goes beyond financial, said Jorge Piñon, a senior research collaborator at the University of Texas’s Energy Ins ute. It will “build goodwill, not only goodwill within Cuba but goodwill with the rest of Latin America,” Piñon said.
...
Reply With Quote
