CMU Campus to Be Fully Solarised by August

The main campus of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) at Palisadoes Park, Kingston, is to be fully solarised by August 2025.

CMU President, Professor Andrew Spencer, who made the disclosure at a recent JIS Think Tank, explained that the project will include the construction of solar photovoltaic (PV) carport power plants, solar PV rooftop power plants and electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations.

“We believe that the CMU, as it thrives and grows, must play its own part in the energy space from the perspective of solar technology, and so we are very pleased and very excited by this development,” he said.

“We are very excited that we are going to be generating even more energy than we actually need, and that will allow us to minimise our footprint on the environment and, therefore, lead by example,” Professor Spencer said.

He noted that the excess energy generation will most likely be used to provide support to the University’s parent Ministry.

The CMU President explained that the solarisation of the campus will also mean that the University’s utility bill will be significantly reduced.

He noted that the institution has already begun to realise cost savings.

“Even without the implementation of the full solarisation project, we have reduced our energy consumption by 10 per cent over the last year by simply doing the smaller things,” Professor Spencer said.

“Imagine when this full solar project comes in. It is going to ensure that we have all that we need. In fact, the understanding is that we will produce 24 per cent more than what we actually need, and we are looking forward to that day because it also gives us an opportunity to contribute to the bigger picture,” the CMU President said.

The plant is being designed, engineered, constructed and tested with the objective of achieving reliable energy generation with minimum operation and maintenance costs and shutdown requirements, while achieving high performance.

The project is being financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.