The UK and Cuba have formed a joint venture to build biomass power plants adjacent to sugar mills, it has been announced.
The agreement marks one of the largest renewable energy partnerships between the two nations.
Havana Energy, a UK group chaired by former UK energy minister Brian Wilson, will form a joint venture with Zerus, a state-owned company within Cuba’s Ministry of Sugar, to build up to five power plants fuelled by bagasse, the fibre that remains after sugar cane processing.
A pilot plant will be built at Ciro Redondo Sugar Mill, a 100-year old plant on government-owned land about 400 kilometres outside Havana. The venture will then build four more plants in the project’s second stage, each of 32 MW capacity.
It is hoped that the pilot plant, which is expected to cost $50 million (approximately £31.5 million), will provide a return on investment within five years.
Havana Energy will invest $250 million (approx. £157 million) in the project, with Zerus to make in-kind contributions including land and sugar cane.
Seven per cent of Cuba’s energy needs are currently provided by renewable energy sources, the UK company said. It went on to say that it has identified 56 further sugar refineries in the country that would be suitable for biomass power generation.
Commenting on the news, chairman of Havana Energy Brian Wilson, said: “Having tried for more than a decade to promote closer economic links between the UK and Cuba, I am delighted to be involved in a project that demonstrates the benefits of such co-operation.
“Cuba has an excellent record both in providing electricity for its people and promoting environmental sustainability. This project will support both objectives. I have the highest regard for the abilities and objectives of our Cuban colleagues.”
Nelson Labrada, Cuba’s vice-minister of sugar, said: “This strategy of using sugarcane bagasse for power generation avoids one of the primary problems with other biomass sources which is supply. Bagasse is the fibrous residual left after cane crushing. In Cuba it is possible via the sugar mills and bagasse based power plants to generate up to 40 per cent of the energy needs of the country today.”
Havana Energy is part of the Escensia group, a UK company that works in the Cuban tourism, trade and energy sectors. The company has already partnered with the Cuban government to develop hydro-electric generators and wind farms.
