Photovoltaic Park to be Built in Mariel Development Zone

Indian company launches tender for 1.15 GW of solar projects in Cuba
HAVANA, Oct 20 (PL) The enterprise Mariel Solar S.A. will soon start installation of the first photovoltaic park with 100 percent foreign capital, with an estimated output of 102 Gigawatts/hour (GWh) per year, revealed here an authorized source.

Located in the western Special Development Zone of Mariel (ZEDM), the power generating park will extend over 118 hectares, declared in exclusive statement to Prensa Latina, the president of Mariel Solar, Bernardo Fernandez.

Although it generates less electricity than other similar parks, with numbers projected we exceed the average obtained in Spain, estimated Fernandez.

In comparison, Germany and the United Kingdom produce 40 and 50 percent less for this type of generation, that is, a relevant electric energy contribution for this country once the project is completed next year, he added.

With three different fundamental locations, the park will have over 300 thousand panels, added Fernandez.

In each location and depending on the size of the área, there will be an installation covering all available área with photovoltaic panels, he said.

Also, the official highlighted the fact of being located in an exclusive industrial park like the ZEDM, besides implicating

a faster procedure once awarded the project in 2016, gives a big aggregate value to the project.

Mariel Solar S.A. is the result of a closed licitation by the Union Electrica de Cuba finally awarded to the British company Hive Energy.

From that moment on, detailed Fernandez, we have been in the process of negotiation of contracts for buying and selling of electricity, and once issued the pertinent permits and authorizations recognizing us as clients of the ZEDM, we concluded the technical project, got financing and we are ready to start construction of the park in November.

As part of the development program of Cuba until 2030 in the change of energy balance, it is estimated that renewable energy sources will provide 24 percent of all power generation in the country.