CADECA Sancti Spíritus shifts its energy mix to sustain its services

The Cuban commercial entity CADECA (Casas de Cambio) in Sancti Spíritus is making progress in transforming its energy infrastructure to ensure service continuity—a strategy that has become particularly important given the public’s rising demand for cash.

Héctor Emilio Peña Hernández, CADECA’s provincial director, noted that a key priority is serving retirees who do not have bank cards and need to cash their full pension checks; the goal is to ensure they have access to cash even during power outages.

“CADECA is a currency exchange bureau. Our primary mission is currency exchange. However, as we receive cash injections—or have successfully arranged for economic actors to deposit cash with us in national currency—we have also stepped up, just like the banks, to provide this valuable and necessary service to the public: allowing them to withdraw cash at our locations.”

“We currently have a branch in Trinidad that—thanks to solar panels and independent power capabilities, eliminating the need to ship cash there—has achieved the goal of generating its own power to provide services to the public. In Cabaiguán, we have received approval for a solar panel project funded by a donation expected to arrive in the coming months; this will be integrated just as in Trinidad, allowing the branch to achieve energy independence.

“We also have the Hospital Currency Exchange Bureau, which enjoys a reliable power supply thanks to the Camilo Cienfuegos Hospital—a facility where we also provide special service to medical staff. We have already integrated the Blood Bank, the Dental Clinic, and the Medical Emergency System into this setup.”

According to Peña Hernández, the CADECA branch located on the Sancti Spíritus city boulevard—one of the busiest in the province—also plans to switch its energy source to ensure services remain available to the public during power outages.