With the support of EUROCLIMA+, the electrical systems of CEDAI's headquarters in the Vedado area of Havana, will be transformed to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas generation.

November 9, 2020. Havana, Cuba. On Friday, November 7, 2020, the event to launch the "Energy Efficient Buildings" (3XE) project of the Empresa de Automatización Integral (CEDAI) was held. This project will contribute to the reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy sources in buildings.

The project is part of EUROCLIMA+, a programme financed by the European Union, which is implemented in the Energy Efficiency sector by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the French Development Agency (AFD).

The 3xE project enhances efficiency from three dimensions: energy, the use of renewable energies, and sustainable mobility with the use of electric vehicles.

"By 2030 it is expected that 24% of the energy matrix in Cuba will come from renewable energy sources, CEDAI intends, in the future, to offer energy services to other entities," said Yoandris Ramírez, the institution's general director.

For his part, Juan Garay Amores, Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation in Cuba, said that it was urgent to encourage more initiatives of this kind, which would generate culture and innovative thinking.

He also added that the project in the largest of the Antilles, one of the eight approved by Euroclima plus, will serve as a point of reference for the country and the region.

Accompanying CEDAI in this effort are the National Office for the Control of Rational Energy Use (Onure) as a supervisory entity, the Technological University of Havana José Antonio Echeverría, and the Central Palace of Pioneers Ernesto Che Guevara, with the purpose of generating knowledge and know-how in the new generations.

The project will receive a contribution of 1,105,000 Euros and it is expected that at project end, in addition to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the creation of technical capacities and institutions for energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy sources in urban áreas will be achieved, as well as identifying and proposing energy performance indicators for buildings similar to CEDAI, thus contributing to the development of a regulatory scheme.

The event was attended by Juan Garay Amores, Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation in Cuba, Yoandris Ramírez Carmenaty, Director General of CEDAI, Ernesto Cedeño, Deputy Minister of Industry, José Manuel Mariscal, General Coordinator of AECID in Havana, and Odalys Goicochea, Director General of Environment at CITMA.

About EUROCLIMA+

EUROCLIMA+  is a programme financed by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and UN Environment.