Innovative energy and construction solutions on display in Cuba

The Cuban president, along with the Council of Ministers, toured various workshops within Cuban industry.

Images via Estudios Revolución

By Leticia Martínez Hernández, translated from the Spanish

This Wednesday (July 8) in Havana, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and President of the Republic, visited Cuban industry entities focused on energy and construction solutions to support the country’s sustainable development and defense. The visit is part of the regular exchanges the president holds with labour groups.

Joined by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera – both members of the Political Bureau of the PCC – and several Council of Ministers members, the president toured a workshop producing expanded polystyrene panels with electrowelded mesh. This modern construction system uses prefabricated panels mainly for building walls.

This is an economical, fast and highly efficient solution for the construction of houses, thanks to the considerable savings in cement (between 20% and 30%) and steel (more than 50%).

Work is underway on two types of very comfortable houses, with foundations already laid in both Havana and the central and eastern regions of the country.

While this technology is mainly used for building houses, it also offers excellent outcomes for lining popular "container houses" and refrigerated containers. The Head of State had the chance to see these applications in action.

The day also featured a visit to a solar panel assembly line, where over 3,200 units have been produced so far this year. This milestone, along with its commercialization, has enabled the start of installing photovoltaic systems within the facility itself, aiming to operate independently from the National Electric System and maintain production despite the country’s energy crisis, driven by the intensified blockade by the U.S. government and an oil siege lasting more than six months.

With the arrival of new inverters and batteries for the photovoltaic sector, the solar panel factory will be able to implement a double work shift, enabling a daily production of 120 panels.

The Cuban President praised these modern, agile, and practical solutions, urging that the experiences be shared and applied across other regions and sectors of the nation.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC