Completed Development AidData Chinese Aid

Chinese Government provides $22.95 million USD loan for 29 MW Solar Power Project (Linked to Record ID#54762)

¥22.95M RMB

Funder	China Ministry of Commerce
Recipient Organization	Government of Cuba
Country	Cuba
Start Date	Jan 01, 2015
End Date	Dec 23, 2026
Duration	4,374 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`69158`

Grant Description

Chinese Government provides $22.95 million USD loan for 29 MW Solar Power Project On March 2, 2015, the Chinese and Cuban governments signed an Exchange of Letters for the implementation of solar power station projects.

Cuba's Ministry of Energy and Mines planned to install photovoltaic facilities, capable of 29 MW in total, on five Cuban solar farms through a $24,590,000 grant and $22,950,000 soft loan, both provided by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). The grant is captured in linked Record ID#54762.

The project management unit is China Qiyuan Engineering Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd., and the project general contractor is China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group Company. The first stage of this project involved the construction of two photovoltaic plants with a combined capacity of 9 MW.

The pair includes a 4 MW solar farm in the Pinar del Rio province and a 5 MW plant in Cienfuegos province, the latter being the largest facility of its kind in Cuba.

Construction of the power plants began on 18 November, 2016 and was completed and successfully passed technical acceptance on 12 April, 2018.

On 26 April, 2018, the ceremony for the completion and handover of the photovoltaic power plants was held at the site of the 5MW project in the town of Yaguaramas, Cienfuegos Province, Cuba. Solar parks will continue to be constructed in the Cienfuegos province until 2030. China will provide the technology while Cuba will take care of the physical construction.

📋 Staff Comments

This project has been coded with Implementation status, as only 9 MW of the expected 29 MW has been completed. It is not known whether all of the solar projects being constructed in Cienfuegos are being financed by China but the ones that are already complete have had Chinese participation.
The Chinese project title is 援古巴太阳能电站.
Other sources have quoted the total capacity for this project as 21 MW (See: 2016/17 Knowledge Sharing Program (Industry & Trade) with Cuba and China entrega a Cuba dos parques de paneles solares para generar energías limpias).

📚 Sources & References

GEF-6 Record IDENTIFICATION FORM (PIF), 2016/17 Knowledge Sharing Program (Industry & Trade) with Cuba
援古巴太阳能电站项目举行对外移交仪式
China entrega a Cuba dos parques de paneles solares para generar energías limpias
中国援建古巴太阳能电厂建成交付
China entrega a Cuba el mayor parque solar fotovoltaico con que contará la nación caribeña
Inagurada en Cuba central solar de 5 MW
China switches on 9 MW of PV plants in Cuba
Chen Hao
Ambassador of Cuba, inspected the Sino-Cuban Cooperation Project
China delivers two solar panel parks to Cuba
中国启源公司参建的援古巴太阳能电站项目顺利通过技术验收
China-aided Solar Power Project Officially Handed Over to Cuba
援古巴太阳能电站项目正式对外移交
援古巴太阳能电站项目对外顺利移交
援古巴太阳能电站项目举行对外移交仪式
驻古巴大使陈曦考察中古合作项目
中国驻古巴使馆经商处洪晓参赞一行赴古巴比那德里奥省对援古巴太阳能光伏电站项目进行现场考察
马克强参赞考察援古巴太阳能光伏电站项目
Increased use of solar energy in Cienfuegos
Knowledge Sharing Program (Industry & Trade) with Cuba Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.