The partnership between Export Barbados (BIDC) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on the jointly established BLOOM Cleantech Cluster has revolutionized the country’s entrepreneurship and innovation landscape.  

With funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), this groundbreaking project, initiated five years ago in the Caribbean, has fostered the growth of the cleantech sector in Barbados. BLOOM has also become an important partner of Export Barbados’ “Barbados is Life” strategy, which promotes economic diversification and leapfrogging to higher-added-value sectors and eco-industrial parks, focusing on industry 4.0, digitalization, biotechnology, pharmaceutics, agri-business, cleantech, and the blue economy.   

On Thursday, May 23, Export Barbados’ Chief Executive Officer Mark Hill welcomed Director General of UNIDO Gerd Müller and his team to the International Food Science Center (IFSC), an initiative of Export Barbados, for a tour of the facility at the Newton Industrial Estate, Christ Church. The facility is also available to prototype some of the BLOOM solutions.   

Mr. Hill expressed the importance of the BLOOM as Barbados moves towards 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. He said that the transition is “doable and bankable”.  

“We have focused on our bio-energy component using both land-based biomass and biomass from the ocean. Also, we know that we have a significant level of solar energy capacity. But the issue that we’re facing as a country is storage. The grid is pretty old and therefore needs to be upgraded, and we anticipate that that must be done in the short term”.  

CEO Hill also emphasized the urgency of Barbados leapfrogging to Industry 4.0, describing local industry as “stuck” in the second industrial revolution.

“The technologies are still pretty much heavily human-oriented because of limited access to the capital for procuring technology, what we call 4.0 technology, upgraded automation, upgraded artificial intelligence, even using robotics. I don’t think any factory in Barbados uses a robot to produce anything. So, we know that the big investment to help Barbados to transition into a smart manufacturing space is that investment in artificial intelligence and robotics,” he said. 

UNIDO’s Director General stressed that it is very important for Barbados and other small islands to strengthen resilience and productivity in the Agrotech sector. Moreover, Mr. Müller highlighted the need for the country to strive for self-sufficiency in food production, as he called for more private investments in the Agrotech sector.

“I think we have to think about the economy; young people need perspective and jobs. And therefore, I think it is very important to invest in the processing industry.” 

Mr. Müller further assured Export Barbados of UNIDO’s continued support with future initiatives, stating that UNIDO is a technical platform for knowledge transfer, technology transfer, and new partnerships.

BLOOM Cluster Manager Dr. Terrell Thompson further emphasized that the BLOOM Cleantech Cluster will soon pursue several bioenergy projects, including one focused on biogas.

“The biogas project, a 250-kilowatt biogas plant to be positioned in Newton Industrial Park, will produce energy that will be used to run some of the manufacturing in the area, and it will also produce a fertilizer that will be supplied to local farmers. We are also in the process of developing green hydrogen using dark fermentation. And then there’s biochar. We have noticed the invasive Sargassum seaweed and the coconut husk – we know the value that can be created from them by converting them to biochar.” 

Dr. Thompson further mentioned that BLOOM has directly assisted several start-ups with grant funding of more than $100,000 and connected them with angel investors and venture capitalists. The help from those financiers has enabled them to raise $750,000 in cash and technical services.