June 23 (Renewables Now) - Cuba’s minister of energy and mining Livan Arronte and the French Ambassador to Cuba, Patrice Paoli, on Wednesday signed a letter of intent with the goal to accelerate the development of renewable energy on the island.

The French Development Agency was also party to the signing of the document, which took place at the International Renewable Energy Fair in Havana.

“We reaffirm the excellent state of relations with the French Development Agency and Cuba in the energy sector,” minister Arronte stated, adding that the high point of the cooperation has been a project to install nine solar PV parks with a combined capacity of 50 MW.

In a statement to Cuban news agency Prensa Latina, the energy ministry’s chief of international relations and collaboration Ariel Orta said the agreement with France will contribute to increasing the share of renewables in Cuba’s energy mix and boost socioeconomic development in rural communities that are still isolated from the national grid.

Among ongoing projects are the nine solar parks and small units in some isolated areas, and there are also plans for a feasibility study of wind resources in the north section of Cuba’s eastern provinces, Prensa Latina reported Orta as saying.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Cuba had 1,198 MW of installed renewables in 2020, which accounted for 18% of the nation’s total energy capacity. As much as 951 MW of that was bioenergy capacity, with solar and wind generating 163 MW and 12 MW, respectively, IRENA’s Cuba tracker shows.

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