With the purpose of contributing to savings and achieving energy autonomy of its main units, the Tabacuba Business Group promotes the installation of solar panel systems.

The Niñita Valdés despalillo and two selected ones from the municipality of Pinar del Río are among the centers in which this technology has already been successfully set up and used.

"We are betting a lot on renewable energy sources," said Marino Murillo Jorge, president of Tabacuba, and pointed out that, in the first half of 2024, all export tobacco factories must have these photovoltaic systems, and that the aspiration to The longer term is to also cover pre-industrial processes and irrigation with them.

This was stated during the inauguration of the chosen v-13-26, in the Pinar del Río municipality of San Luis, another of the facilities that will soon receive the valuable equipment, which will allow it to maintain the vitality of its processes, which demand high lightning.

To do this, he explained that the systems have batteries that also guarantee the lighting of the different areas at night.

"The path is to reach all export factories, all pre-industrial processes and irrigation, since with a submersible pump and photovoltaic panels, we also eliminate the need for diesel," he stated.

However, he warned that in the case of irrigation it is a longer-term aspiration.

"Irrigation is a little more expensive, it costs about $5,000 per hectare, but you have to start and do it little by little," he stated.

Murillo specified that, so far, the new technology has been installed in units in Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Villa Clara.

Regarding the importance of this valuable experience, he stated that the use of renewable energy sources will guarantee that production processes do not stop in the event of electrical interruptions.