A solar panel project at the National Sports Centre is still not fully operational, almost three years after it was expected to be up and running.

David Burt, the Premier, made the revelation in the House of Assembly on Friday after taking questions from the Opposition.

Craig Cannonier, the One Bermuda Alliance spokesman on public works, noted that the project had been “lagging on and on“.

A $3.2 million contract was awarded to Atlantic Energy Solutions Group in 2018.

The project was then shelved until May 2021, but was expected to be complete by January 2022.

However, AESG then ran into financial difficulties, forcing the National Sports Centre to take out a bank loan to fund the project.

There were further delays because of Covid-related supply chain issues, and installation did not get under way until August 2022.

In a progress report in January of this year, Craig Tyrrell, the NSC’s operations manager, said that the system should be operational by June, coming in at $350,000 over budget.

Questioned by Mr Cannonier on Friday, Mr Burt initially said that he was not sure of the project’s status.

After receiving a message from Owen Darrell, the sports minister, Mr Burt said: “The project is 100 per cent complete. It is not completely turned on but they are seeing significant energy savings at the National Sports Centre.”

Mr Burt confirmed that the project had not incurred any further costs.

In March, Kim Swan, the Junior Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, told MPs that extra funding was “essential”.

The NSC typically runs up about $500,000 in energy bills each year.