Can Renewable Energy Help Solve Cuba’s Energy Crisis? An Interview with Dan Whittle
Background
Cuba’s energy crisis entered a new phase in January 2026, when the US ousted Nicolás Maduro, severing a critical source of oil supplies from Venezuela. The Trump administration further escalated pressure by imposing a de facto oil blockade, enacting tariffs on countries that materially support Cuba. As energy expert Jorge Piñon told CEDA in January, Venezuela previously accounted for roughly 50 percent of Cuba’s net oil deficit, with Russia and Mexico supplying much of the remainder. Since January, Cuba has received only one shipment of oil from Russia.
The resulting fuel shortages have heightened the urgency of Cuba’s transition to renewable energy, particularly solar power. The government continues to expand utility-scale solar projects, while households and businesses increasingly turn to solar panels and batteries to cope with prolonged blackouts. China has become an important partner in expanding solar capacity, and imports of Chinese solar panels increased 34-fold in one year. However, the expansion faces significant constraints, including limited access to financing, high upfront costs, and insufficient battery storage. Disruptions to shipping due to U.S. sanctions have further complicated access to renewable energy equipment.
While solar power cannot replace the imported fuel Cuba needs to address its immediate energy crisis, it could play a central role in rebuilding the country’s electricity system over the longer term. Cuba’s existing network of distributed generation offers a potential foundation for expanding solar microgrids and other renewable sources. The challenge is how to finance and implement that transition while ensuring reliable, affordable electricity reaches Cubans beyond those who can afford their own systems.
As the de facto oil blockade enters its ninth month, CEDA spoke with Dan Whittle, Associate Vice President at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), about the growth of renewable energy in Cuba, the barriers to expanding access, and the role solar and other renewables could play in the country’s long-term energy security. Dan leads EDF’s Resilient Caribbean initiative, which works to conserve marine and coastal ecosystems and advance more just and resilient electric systems across the region. His expertise includes Cuban marine and coastal resources law and policy, as well as energy policy.
*The opinions and points of view expressed by interviewees are their own and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of CEDA.
*Quotes from this interview have been lightly edited for clarity and concision.
CEDA: Before the current fuel crisis, how significant was solar power in Cuba’s overall energy mix?
Dan Whittle: It's important to look at Cuba's priorities. For many years, climate change has been a principal priority in terms of adapting to climate change. Cuba's government developed strategies that helped them understand and respond to the impacts of climate change, particularly in coastal communities, including sea level rise.
Over time, they also developed strategies to mitigate climate change, even though Cuba, like most small island states, contributes only a very small part of greenhouse gases. In recent years, their mitigation strategy included substantially increasing renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuel dependence. That's been the broader policy context. Within that, Cuba has been a very active player in climate talks for many years.
They have committed to a clean energy transition as part of the international climate talks. They have a goal of 24 percent renewables by 2030. That's part of their nationally determined contribution. In recent years, they've tried to increase that number because of the realities in Cuba.
Solar power has always been an ambition, but progress has been slow because of lack of access to capital, financing, and technology. Over the last several years, there have been a number of proposed larger projects from the UK and other countries, larger utility-scale solar projects. Many of those didn't pan out because of investors' concerns about getting a return on their investment. It was financially risky. By 2022, I think the amount of renewables in the energy mix was about five percent. They had a long way to go to get to their goal of 24 percent by 2030.
Residential rooftop solar was pretty minimal before the current crisis. You saw some growth in larger-scale projects, but you didn't see all that many solar panels and batteries scattered on people's rooftops.
CEDA: How has the amount of renewables in Cuba changed since the de facto oil blockade began in January? And in particular, have you seen an increase in new solar installations among households, businesses, or government entities?
Dan Whittle: Before the oil blockade in January, there was already a desire among many Cubans to become more energy independent and more energy resilient themselves.
Power outages are not a new thing in Cuba. They've been a chronic issue for several years. For individuals, businesses, and others who could afford it, we were already seeing some increase in solar panels and, predominantly, smaller batteries. Those who could afford them were beginning to seek them out.
CEDA: Is it concentrated among any of those three groups or a different group?
Dan Whittle: Before January, operating under OFAC licensed projects, EDF provided small power stations and batteries to university partners, research institutions, and nonprofits to help them keep the lights on for classes and daily operations. Even before January, you were seeing a movement toward resilient power, meaning solar and storage, just to deal with the outages. The situation got much worse in January. Outages have become much more severe and much more frequent.
When I was there this past July, people were talking not about how long the outages were, but how long they had power each day. Being without power was the default situation in Cuba. This was in July and still is. You've seen a spike since January in the number of solar panels imported into the country and being used, and batteries of different sizes. I think people are realizing just how dire the situation is, with no clear end in sight. Demand is far exceeding supply. Supply has increased from China and other places. In recent months, you're seeing a spike in the amount of solar panels and batteries exported from the US to Cuba.
That's all changed, not just from an electricity viewpoint, but also transportation. When I was there in July, you saw a lot of three-wheelers and small electric vehicles, including electric bikes, electric motorcycles, and small electric cars on the street. I was surprised by how many there were. There was still a fair amount of traffic, which was also surprising, but there was a much higher percentage of electric vehicles on the road than previously.
CEDA: Could you also give us some insight into the larger-scale projects that Cuba's government has undertaken since the oil blockade?
Dan Whittle: On the larger scale, there has been an increase in solar parks: utility-scale solar farms or projects. These are larger solar projects that can power many households and businesses. I believe that by about September of this year, Cuba had 144 solar farms throughout the country. Those had an installed capacity of about 1.5 gigawatts, or 1,500 megawatts. I think Cuba has an installed capacity, or installed need of about 6.7 gigawatts.
That's approaching 20 percent. I don't have reliable figures, but I understand that because of the surge in demand for solar and storage, solar is now approximating 20 percent of the installed capacity. There are plans to build more of these parks. I think China has apparently signaled that they're going to build an additional 90 to 100 parks by 2028, an additional two gigawatts of capacity.
CEDA: A great deal of those solar farms are funded at least in part by China. Are there other foreign governments funding them? Who is providing the capital?
Dan Whittle: None that I'm aware of. Previously, there were UK companies that had announced plans to do larger utility-scale projects. I am not aware of other countries investing in solar parks at the moment.
CEDA: What role could solar and other distributed renewable energy play in rebuilding Cuba's power system and making its energy system more resilient? What would a broader solar transition look like? What are the biggest barriers to making that happen, such as financing, access to technology, or regulatory controls?
Dan Whittle: Here, I would distinguish between emergency relief and recovery. Cuba is experiencing a dire energy crisis. People, for the most part, don't have access to electricity for most of the day. There are measures that could be taken in the near term to ease that burden and mitigate the crisis through more fuel imports and temporary generation, such as floating power plants.
There's a fair amount that needs to be done just to ease the pain. Longer term, there's a huge opportunity for renewables and for rebuilding a power system in Cuba that's reliable, resilient, and clean. That can happen with solar, wind, and other renewables.
Simply put, Cuba can't afford to overinvest in fossil fuels. It doesn't make sense from an energy security, reliability, or resilience viewpoint. Something we pointed out in a report we wrote in 2017 is that Cuba has the most distributed generation in the world next to Denmark. After a hurricane in the early 2000s, they understood that with their centralized system, if one unit goes out, the entire country goes out.
They built a more resilient system, so they essentially have microgrids around the country. Unfortunately, those microgrids are fueled with diesel previously imported from Venezuela. A lot of those plants, in addition to being dirty and bad for people's health, are sitting idle now because of the lack of fuel.
That distributed generation provides some infrastructure to build out solar microgrids and other distributed generation. It's a huge opportunity for community solar and large-scale, utility-scale solar and storage. Cuba has far more land than the rest of the Caribbean, so there's space to build these solar and wind projects. EDF just released a report in the US acknowledging that we're going in the opposite direction. We're now overinvesting in fossil fuels and cutting back on cleaner energy, contrary to where the rest of the world is trying to go.
We've also determined that new wind and utility-scale solar in the US average about $68 to $69 per megawatt-hour over their lifetimes, compared to $90 per megawatt-hour for natural gas. We're saying that greater reliance on fossil fuels will expose consumers to higher construction costs and volatile fuel prices in the long term.
That is very much the case in a place like Cuba. Solar is the cheapest option. It's the most secure in the long run, and Cuba has an abundance of sun. It doesn't make sense to do anything else in the long term if they can overcome the barriers to financing.
The technology is there. They've begun to implement some regulatory reforms to incentivize residential rooftop solar and storage. There's a lot they can do from a regulatory and policy viewpoint to accelerate the use of solar, on both the smaller and larger scales. The challenge, of course, is financing.
As long as U.S. sanctions are in place, it'll be extremely difficult to get the international financing required to scale up solar in the country. Also, I have spoken to people who come from a fossil fuel background, and even they are sounding the alarm on the public health impacts of dirty diesel and fossil fuels in Cuba. It's a serious issue that's been understudied. It's one of the downsides of these diesel microgrids. Poor air quality is a major concern in Cuba.
CEDA: How do U.S. sanctions affect imports of solar panels and other renewable energy equipment? You mentioned that EDF has exported small batteries to local organizations in Cuba. Have you encountered any challenges related to changes in OFAC regulations under the second Trump administration, or have you seen broader evidence of these changes creating barriers to renewable energy imports?
Dan Whittle: Rather than export solar panels and batteries, what we have done through our licensed projects is purchase solar panels and batteries already in the country from private vendors who have imported them from Panama and other places.
We have seen that supply has dwindled. Even if you're allowed to purchase and have the budget for it, components are harder to find. I understand that many vessels from other countries trying to bring goods into Cuba have been turned around or are not allowed to dock.
There have been a large number of shipments from the US. As of July, about $6.3 million in solar panels had been shipped to Cuba. You are seeing some technology come in, but it's not nearly enough to meet demand. The sanctions are having an impact.
CEDA: China and the US have both been important sources of solar technology for Cuba. How has the role of each country in Cuba's solar sector changed over the past nine months?
Dan Whittle: I think China, from all accounts, remains committed to helping Cuba build these large-scale solar parks. An important note is that these solar parks don't include battery storage.
Without batteries, solar panels are still extremely valuable, but their value is significantly increased if you have storage capacity. As far as I know, China continues to provide support for utility-scale solar farms. The US has played an interesting role. As just mentioned, I think they've restricted Cuba's access to solar panels, batteries, and other renewable energy technologies through sanctions. But they have allowed some private businesses in the US to import under the Support for the Cuban People exception.
These businesses and organizations are able to give or sell to Cuban individuals or private businesses. There is not a deliberate public policy in the US to enhance Cuba's renewable energy sector. It appears that the response has been aimed more at humanitarian relief, and limited humanitarian relief at that. I don't think we've seen a major shift in the role of China and the US in the last nine months.
CEDA: Looking forward, where do you see the most constructive opportunities to support Cuba's energy transition from any side or sector?
Dan Whittle: On a large scale, I think we in the US need to buy into the idea that energy security in Cuba is good for the Cuban people and for U.S. interests. In the long term, it makes sense that we support the Cuban people in having reliable and affordable access to electricity.
Economic development depends upon it. You can't rebuild an economy without a secure energy supply. You can't attract foreign investment without a secure energy supply. People's wellbeing depends upon reliable access to electricity, not only in Cuba, but everywhere. There are huge opportunities.
The US is uniquely positioned to support Cuba's clean energy transition. We've got many solar and renewable energy companies. We've got the know-how, the experts, and the teachers. From an economic viewpoint, there's a big opportunity for private businesses in the US to profit from having Cuba as a trading partner, to be able to sell renewable energy technology and help implement and deploy it.
We are also uniquely positioned to dramatically expand the workforce in Cuba. Building out their clean energy infrastructure will provide loads of skilled jobs. Cuba's human resources are already quite developed, so there's already a fair amount of know-how. Cuban-US partnership and collaboration would benefit private businesses in the US, the Cuban people, and Cuban businesses. It's a no-brainer. I think the administration is seeing economic opportunities in helping rebuild the natural gas infrastructure.
There is an economic opportunity to do that, and it would benefit US companies. In the long term, however, it's the wrong strategy. If you overbuild natural gas, you don't solve the issue of energy security. You also don't make a dent in the climate. You create many problems as you're solving other ones.
Long-term economic recovery and social wellbeing depend upon reliable and secure energy. No one contests that.
I met with several farmers in July and talked to them about what they do for electricity. Many of them have long been independent. They have solar panels and convert manure into biogas. The answer I got from a couple of farmers I had dinner with was that you have to diversify to be resilient. They're self-sustaining. At a macro level, I think Cuba's future depends upon diverse sources of energy technology and energy resources.
Unlike a lot of other places, they have an abundance of renewables, wind and solar in particular, but they also have other sources: possibly some limited hydro, but also biomass and biogas. The potential is there if we can eliminate the barriers.
The other thing I would mention is a focus on energy equity, something many of us are working on in the US and Puerto Rico, for example. Puerto Rico has the highest electricity costs, adjusted for income, in the US. Energy inequity and energy insecurity are really serious in a place like Puerto Rico because of the escalating costs of fossil fuels.
As we think about Cuba's energy transitions, it's critically important to think about how to ensure equitable access, not just for those who can afford solar panels and batteries or high energy prices. That's another challenge, but it's not rocket science. It can be done with the proper safeguards.
