CMU energy bill falls as solar project comes online

The Caribbean Maritime University’s (CMU) solar project, commissioned in April, is already saving the institution millions of dollars on its electricity bill compared with the same period last year.
The project was funded with US$1.37 million ($217 million) from the Abu Dhabi Energy Company after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund (CREF) agreed the scope of the venture.
The contract was awarded to NxZen, a United Kingdom-based global technology consulting and engineering firm, which engaged local company Elite Contractors to work on the project in 2024.
Professor Andrew Spencer, CMU’s president, said the project was completed in March, tested, and commissioned in April.
During the day, the campus operates entirely off-grid as it is fully powered by solar energy. At night, when demand is lower, it reconnects to the national grid.
Spencer said the savings were evident almost immediately, with the university recording lower electricity bills in both March and April compared with the same period last year.
“What we’ve essentially seen immediately is the reduction in our energy bill,” he told The Gleaner. “Obviously, it’s not going to be massive initially, but for example, in March, when you compare, year over year, last year to this year, our energy bill was $3.9 million. This year for March, it was $3.3 million. In April, it got even better. April last year our bill was $3.7 million. This year April, the bill was $2.1 million, a reduction of $1.6 million in our monthly electricity bill.”
He said the results were significant for the university, which prides itself on being a technology-focused institution while maintaining a strong commitment to environmental programmes.
“We’re the only university to have a degree in marine biotechnology in our engineering faculty, and what that means is we are looking at energy solutions, we are looking at solutions to marine degradation and erosion, we’re looking at green hydrogen, we’re looking at blue hydrogen as a source of fuel, we’re looking at nuclear. We have our own nuclear facility being set up now, so the idea is we’ve always had a passion and a penchant for alternative energy sources, and so we have to live it.
He said the university has long promoted alternative energy through its programmes, including a short certificate course in solar engineering.
“Now, how can we be teaching that and not living it? So we have decided to live it, and here we are. We are very pleased with it. The fringe benefit of it has been that we’ve created an additional 180 covered parking spaces because we’re using car ports, etc, to house the panels. So it’s a win-win-win.”
Shamar Atkinson, managing director of Elite Contractors, which implemented the project, said the work progressed smoothly. His company delivered a 620k-W plant capable of powering the entire campus, with surplus generation capacity.
carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com