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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Anna Heikkinen in Herradura, Cuba

US sanctions, power cuts, climate crisis: why Cuba is betting on renewables

A team of installers lifts solar panels on to the roof of a building in the Guanabacoa neighbourhood of Havana
Installers lift photovoltaic panels on to a roof in the Guanabacoa district of Havana. Across Cuba, families are scrambling to cope with increasing numbers of blackouts and power shortages as the effects of the six-decade US economic embargo are felt across the economy. Photograph: Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty

Intense heat hangs over the sugarcane fields near Cuba’s eastern coast. In the village of Herradura, a blond-maned horse rests under a palm tree after spending all Saturday in the fields with its owner, Roberto, who cultivates maize and beans.

Roberto was among those worst affected by Hurricane Melissa, which hit eastern Cuba – the country’s poorest region – late last year. The storm affected 3.5 million people, damaging or destroying 90,000 homes and 100,000 hectares of crops.

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