Cuba pushes solar as US oil blockade deepens blackouts

Cuba’s energy minister said Monday the island has installed 144 solar farms with about 1,418 megawatts of capacity as a de facto U.S. oil blockade leaves the country with long blackouts and little fuel, according to a Reuters interview reported on Oct. 12, 2026.

The scale of the shortfall explains the push. Minister Vicente de la O Levy estimated that U.S. oil reaching Cuba’s private firms “doesn’t even cover 3 per cent of its fuel needs,” CiberCuba reported from the same interview. Renewables supplied only nine per cent of Cuba’s energy consumption as of 2023, according to Al Jazeera’s account of the interview.

“We are seeking our own alternative solutions, using our own resources, our sun, wind, tides,” de la O Levy told Reuters, as quoted by Al Jazeera. He also acknowledged hardship: “We face long hours of blackouts and lack fuel for cooking and transportation,” and said Cubans are “surviving and moving forward, little by little, even if not at the pace we would like.”

The blockade dates to early January, when U.S. President Donald Trump halted Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba. Later that month he announced heavy tariffs on any country that exports oil to the island, calling its government a national security threat. Al Jazeera reported that only one Russian tanker has reached Havana since. Washington has allowed more fuel to flow to private businesses but has largely barred it for state-owned industries.

China is the largest supplier of Cuba’s solar panels, and shipments have risen since the blockade began, Al Jazeera reported. The International Energy Agency says only 40 per cent of Cuba’s electricity comes from domestic oil, and de la O Levy said nearly all domestic crude goes to power plants. CiberCuba, citing the interview, reported that Cuba produces about 40,000 barrels of crude a day against a need of 90,000 to 110,000, and has had at least six total grid collapses this year.

The fuel fight has also moved to U.S. ports. As Canada News Media reported on Oct. 8, U.S. authorities announced on Oct. 7 that they had seized 90 biodiesel shipments worth almost $3 million that were bound for ENETEC S.A., a Cuban state fuel wholesaler sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. De la O Levy denied any state link, saying “no Cuban state-owned company has managed to obtain a fuel contract, whether for small or large quantities,” according to CiberCuba. Cuba, and the United Nations according to Al Jazeera, call the restrictions a violation of international law.

For Canadians, the crisis has already changed travel. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on Feb. 19 that the last flights by Canadian airlines had left Cuba, bringing home more than 27,900 travellers, the Canadian Press reported in a story carried by CP24. Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat suspended service, and Global Affairs Canada told Canadians to avoid non-essential travel, citing shortages of fuel, electricity, food, water and medicine. More than 7,000 Canadians were then registered as being in Cuba, a voluntary count. Canada News Media could not load the current advisory on travel.gc.ca in time for publication, so readers should check it before any trip.

Canadian industry is exposed too. CiberCuba reported that Sherritt International, the Canadian miner that ran a nickel and cobalt joint venture with the Cuban government at Moa for more than 30 years, suspended operations this year and announced its withdrawal, while owing the Cuban state about $277 million. De la O Levy said restarting nickel production would require resolving “all those issues.” Those Sherritt details come from one outlet and were not independently confirmed.

The solar and fuel figures come from the Cuban government through a single Reuters interview, and Canada News Media has not independently verified them. What to watch next is whether more tankers reach Havana, whether Washington adds to the 90-shipment seizure, and whether Ottawa changes its Cuba travel advice.

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Via Al Jazeera (Reuters and The Associated Press), CiberCuba and News.az.