Cuba is facing devastating nationwide blackouts as an effective U.S. oil blockade chokes fuel supplies. But the crisis could also accelerate the China-backed clean energy revolution that is quietly unfolding in the Caribbean nation.
Cuba is currently undergoing one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet with help from China, according to energy think tank Ember. Imports of Chinese solar panels and batteries surged last year, and Cuba built dozens of solar parks with Chinese investment.
The country remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels, but some experts believe strong U.S. pressure – threatening to “take control” of the island – could hasten Cuba’s path toward clean energy. Kevin Cashman, an economist at the Transition Security Project at the US-UK research group, said more renewable energy means less reliance on fuel imports and helps “eliminate this coercion”.
Others warn that Cuba’s energy situation is so bleak, its grid so broken and its economy so dire that renewable energy can currently only solve a small part of the puzzle. Meanwhile, long and damaging blackouts continue, and most ordinary Cubans have yet to feel the benefits of the solar surge.
A clean energy revolution “sounds good on the surface, but you have to have the resources,” said Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist at American University in Washington, D.C.
Oil is the backbone of Cuba’s electricity system, most of which is imported. In the 1980s, mainly from the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, Cuba turned to Venezuela and struck a unique deal in which it sent medical professionals to Venezuela in exchange for oil.
In early January, the Trump administration cut off this oil supply after capturing the Venezuelan president. Soon after, imports to Cuba from other oil suppliers, including Mexico, also dried up after the United States threatened additional tariffs.
The impact is devastating. In March, the country experienced three nationwide blackouts, leaving about 10 million residents without power. Garbage piles up on the streets, hospital surgeries are restricted, and people burn wood for cooking.
The streets of Havana during a nationwide power outage in Cuba on March 21, 2026. – Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
It’s Cuba’s worst energy crisis in decades, but blackouts have been part of daily life for years as the country’s aging power infrastructure often collapses from its ability to keep up with demand.
In 2024, the crisis reached new levels, with multi-day power outages across the country. Torres said this marked a “turning point” and was the year solar energy began to take off, with the Cuban government promoting it as a solution to energy problems.
The speed of solar tides is astounding. In 2023, China exported approximately $3 million in solar panels to Cuba; according to Ember, this number will soar to $117 million by 2025.
A key part of the country’s clean energy push is a deal with China to open 92 solar parks across the country by 2028, expected to provide a total of 2 gigawatts of solar power, enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel opened the first one in February 2025, and there are currently about 50 online stores spread across the island. Graham said Cuba has installed about 1 gigawatt of solar power in the past 12 months alone, “which actually has a pretty big impact on the power mix of a country as large as Cuba.”
Renewable energy currently accounts for about 10% of Cuba’s electricity, and will account for about 3% in 2024. “It was a very, very rapid boom,” Graham said. The country has pledged that this number will rise to at least 24% by 2030.
Experts install solar panels on the roof of a multi-family house in Matanzas, Cuba, on April 13, 2026. (AFP Photo Credit: Getty Images) – AFP/Getty Images
The benefits of solar energy to Cuba are obvious. The cost of clean technology has dropped significantly in recent years, Graham said, and solar is being installed relatively quickly. The infrastructure lasts for decades and, once built, only requires sunlight.
There are benefits for China, too, and it’s not just financial, said Jorge Piñon, a senior study co-author at the University of Texas Energy Institute. That would “build goodwill, not just within Cuba but with the rest of Latin America,” Pigon said.
However, experts warn there are huge obstacles to a wider solar revolution.
The surge may be rapid, but solar power is not yet available on a large scale. Pignon said Cuba’s solar parks are small and scattered. Solar power can also only be generated when the sun is shining, meaning it cannot meet peak evening demand. Pignon said batteries could solve the problem, and battery imports have surged, but Cuba still lacks utility-scale storage.
Perhaps the biggest issue, however, is cost. The solar revolution does not come cheap. “You’re talking about a major overhaul of an old, broken, tired system,” Pignon said.
According to an analysis by Cashman in April, about 93% of Cuba’s electricity comes from renewable energy at a cost of $8 billion, which means Cuba will no longer need to import oil and natural gas to generate electricity. A 100% renewable electricity system would cost $19 billion. “The first threshold breaks down the main external lever of U.S. coercion; the second threshold completes the electricity transition,” the report concluded.
The billion-dollar question is who will foot the bill. “The country is bankrupt and there is no money. Cuban consumers can’t afford it. So who is left?” asked Pinon.
Cashman’s report suggests that developing financial institutions will be key. But Cuba needs to prove it can repay the loan, and that takes time, Pignon said, “and Cuba doesn’t have that time.”
China’s support is also limited. Torres said it was unlikely to provide Cuba with a “blank check.” He added that energy independence would be great, but Cuba “is a poor country in economic crisis.”
Giraldo Lazaro Perez Paret charges his electric motorcycle at a solar charging station in Santa Clara, Cuba, on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Luis Banos) – Jorge Luis Banos/AP
For some Cubans, the solar boom is already paying dividends. At the country’s first solar-powered charging station in the city of Santa Clara, Cubans can charge anything from cell phones to power banks to electric motorcycles.
“They solve a lot of problems for a lot of people,” Udremis Barreiro Munoz said in an interview with The Associated Press. She uses the charging station to charge her family’s electric tricycle.
But Torres said that for most people, the advantages are yet to be felt. He bought small solar modules for his family in Cuba, but solar power is out of reach for most people who can’t even afford food.
Torres said that if you ask the average Cuban whether they see any benefit from the solar program in their daily lives, “the likely answer is no … because blackouts are worse now than they were a year ago.”
He believes that renewable energy must play a role in the country’s electricity mix. But he said Cuba needs not just cleaner electricity, but more and faster electricity. He added that people want a guaranteed supply and it doesn’t matter to them whether it comes from the heaviest, most polluting oil or from solar.
Others, however, believe that as clean technology costs continue to fall and geopolitical turmoil exposes the dangers of reliance on fossil fuel imports, there will be a more positive outlook for the rapid deployment of renewable energy, not just in Cuba but elsewhere.
“Whatever happens in Cuba, it’s a clear signal to other countries that renewable energy is something they need to focus on,” Cashman said.
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