Cuba plans to add 8 wind power farms

Energy-poor Cuba announced a plan Sunday to build eight new wind farms by 2020, capable of generating 280 megawatts (MW) of power, and saving 200,000 tons of conventional fuel each year. Six of the wind farms will be built in eastern Cuba designed with 30 MW capacity each and the other two in the central region with capacity of up to 50 MW each, the state-run Juventud Rebelde daily quoted the director of emergency power generation and renewable energy sources, Aleisly Valdes, as saying. Valdes said the facilities will cost "a considerable sum" without giving a specific number, but he believed that the investment will be recouped in a period of less than 10 years. The wind farms will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 184,000 tons a year as well as other greenhouse gases, added Valdes. According to Cuban researchers, the Caribbean island has the potential to generate 1,200 MW of wind energy per year. Currently, 16 different research groups are working to develop the nation's renewable energy sources, a task that has become crucial given recent failed attempts to uncover deep-water oil reserves.