A strategic work for Isle of Youth and Cuba

Starting this Friday, the quality of the electrical service in this special municipality and the use of renewable energy sources, particularly solar photovoltaics, take on a new dimension thanks to the launch of a collaboration project, the result of the work of several companies: Japanese and Cuban companies.

While touring the facility, Cuban Prime Minister was interested in the technical support to the different equipment providing service, the training and skill-set improvement of the human asset working on them, as well as the workers’ wages and incentives to those working hardest.

During the event, Alfredo López Valdés, general director of the Electrical Union, highlighted that there have been years of hard joint work between the two countries to complete this complex electricity installation, which has 15 MW in addition to the existing capacity, thus the municipality could potentially reach 20% of the production of energy with renewable sources, noted López Valdés, who pointed out that this work showcases the excellent status of the Cuba-Japan relations.

This sentiment was also referred to by the Ambassador of Japan in Cuba and JICA’s resident representative, who highlighted how bilateral cooperation between both peoples has expanded and diversified in recent years. They highlighted that the Asian nation is always ready to support the advancement of the Cuban people, “who are not alone, they have many friends in the world like the Japanese people.”

When pronouncing the words of gratitude on behalf of the people of Isle of Youth, Rafael Ernesto Licea Mojena, president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, recognized all the people who, with devotion, dedication and commitment, made possible the materialization of the work, of paramount importance for the economic and social development of the Isle of Youth and the country.

The initiative to improve the electricity supply in the territory consists of a system of rapid discharge lithium batteries, which makes it possible to compensate for fluctuations caused by the instability of photovoltaic generation and, thereby, contribute to the regulation of the municipal electric distribution system frequency.

Furthermore, this project, promoted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Cuba, favors the assembly of photovoltaic parks, which will reduce the use of fossil fuels in power generation, contributing to the country’s energy sovereignty and protecting the environment by reducing polluting waste from hydrocarbon generation.

The inauguration of the work was attended by the member of the Political Bureau and prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz; the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente De La O Levy; the first secretary of the Party on the Isle of Youth, the Japanese ambassador to Cuba, Hirata Kenji; the resident representative of JICA in the Greater Antilles, Ashida Tatsuya, as well as other Cuban and Japanese authorities.

In conversation with the participants in the event, Marrero Cruz thanked the Government of Japan and JICA for the donation of more than 20 million U.S. dollars for the execution of this project that, in this complex economic context and amidst the electro-energy situation faced by the Greater Antilles, has greater importance.

Likewise, he recognized the entire team of professionals, Cuban and Japanese engineers, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Electrical Union and especially the workers of the local electrical company, “direct protagonists of the work,” to whom the Head of Government asked them to take advantage of all the experiences acquired during this time of execution.

“You must know how to maintain all this equipment, all these facilities, so that they last and because we want to extend this experience to the rest of the country,” said Marrero Cruz, who recalled that the country is committed to the development of renewable sources to generate electricity and, therefore, “today, a new stage begins here and we must see the results of this experience and hence expand it nationwide.”

He pointed out that this “is a very important step” in the political will of the Cuban Government to transform its energy matrix, to leave behind, little by little, the dependence on fossil fuels and go to generate clean electricity, clean energies. And we will advance further to the same extent that we can have the resources.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff