Cuba to decouple water pumping from national grid by 2027

Cuba is expanding its solar energy infrastructure to stabilize essential services, specifically targeting the separation of water pumping systems from the National Electric Power System (SEN). President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced plans to dedicate 200 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity exclusively to water pumping, with the goal of making these operations independent of the national grid by early 2027.

Currently, Cuba has installed 1.42 GW of solar capacity across 144 photovoltaic plants and expects to exceed 1.5 GW by the end of 2026. Renewable energy sources now account for 21.4% of the country's electricity generation. The government is also expanding energy storage, with 50 MW already installed and an additional 100 MW scheduled for October.

To mitigate immediate disruptions, authorities are implementing distributed generation and using generator sets as a transitional measure for 29 water supply and pressure stations in Havana. Beyond public water supplies, solar-powered pumps have already been deployed for irrigation and livestock.