A British firm is seeking to generate renewable energy from the byproducts of Cuban sugarcane production. Esencia, a UK-based holding company for Havana Energy, is working to construct the first of five biomass plants on the island.
Robert Miller, director of Britain’s Cuban Solidarity Campaign (CSC) said,
“We hope that this long worked-for venture will help punch a small hole in the US blockade that still continues to hinder international trade with the island.”
The power stations will sit alongside existing sugar mills and will be fueled by cane as well as Marabu, an invasive weed imported in the 19th-century to the island from Africa, and found to be a highly effective biofuel. There is great support for the project in Cuba, despite costing £125 million per plant. Work will begin this autumn at the Ciro Redondo sugar mill in the Ciego de Avila region, Cuba’s main sugar growing province.
