A crucial parameter for prefeasibility studies of waste-to-energy technologies is the low heating value (LHV) of the municipal solid waste (MSW). There are different empiric equations based on the gravimetric as well as the elemental composition of the MSW for this purpose. The objective of this work was to estimate the LHV of the MSW in the city of Havana in order to evaluate its energetic potential. From the gravimetric composition reported in the literature the proximate and ultimate analyses were determined. Based on these results, four different models were used to calculate the LHV. In all cases the LHV was in the range of 7 MJkgwaste-1 – 11 MJkgwaste-1. For the lowest value it was determined the maximum amount of electricity that could be produced, resulting in 250 GWhe per year for a plant capacity of 400 000 ton of waste per year.