Cuba is pressing ahead with plans to shift its energy system toward renewable sources, even as a de facto oil blockade by the United States has badly damaged the island’s economy. In an interview with a news agency on Monday, Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy said the blockade has forced the country to look for domestic alternatives to foreign fuel.
He said Cuba is relying on its own resources, including sunlight, wind, tides, domestic crude and gas from its wells. “We are seeking our own alternative solutions, using our own resources,” de la O Levy said.
Solar farms expand as the grid relies on fossil fuels
De la O Levy said 144 solar farms with a combined capacity of about 1,418 megawatts have been installed on the island in recent years. China has been the largest supplier of solar panels to Cuba, and shipments have grown since the blockade began in early January.
The government-run electrical grid is widely considered antiquated and depends heavily on fossil fuels. According to the International Energy Agency, only 40 percent of Cuba’s electricity comes from domestic oil production. As of 2023, renewable sources covered just nine percent of the country’s energy consumption.
The minister acknowledged that the country is facing serious difficulties. He said Cuba is also producing domestic crude oil at a stable level, but nearly all of it is directed to power plants.
Blackouts and shortages deepen the strain on Cuba
The blockade has caused shortages of medicine, water and fuel, pushing Cuba close to a humanitarian crisis, according to the report. Shortly after the blockade began, US President Donald Trump halted all oil shipments from Venezuela, a close ally of the Cuban government. Later that month, he announced heavy tariffs on any country that exported oil to Cuba, calling the island’s government a “national security” threat.
Since then, only a single oil tanker from Russia has reached Havana. The United States has increased oil shipments to Cuba’s private sector but has largely barred fuel exports for nationalised industries on the communist-led island.
“We are surviving and moving forward, little by little, even if not at the pace we would like,” de la O Levy said. He added: “We face long hours of blackouts and lack fuel for cooking and transportation.”
International criticism and US enforcement actions
The United Nations and human rights watchdogs have criticised the oil blockade as a violation of international law. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla also condemned it in his speech at the UN General Assembly last month, calling it “an unusual and unprecedented action.”
The United States has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years, dating back to the Cold War era. Since returning to the presidency for a second term, Trump has sought to squeeze the island’s economy further as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign, and his administration has indicated it wants to topple Cuba’s government.
On October 7, US authorities said they had seized 90 biodiesel fuel shipments valued at over $2.8 million destined for Cuba. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that the shipments were part of an attempt to unlawfully export fuel to Cuba. De la O Levy denied that the Cuban government had any link to the shipments, saying no state-owned company had secured a fuel contract. He added that US oil shipments to private firms cover far less than the country’s needs, estimating they do not even meet 3 percent of its fuel requirements.
