Cape Breton University is about to become the first energy self-sufficient campus in North America.
Two massive turbines have gone up, and will soon provide the university with power, and revenue.
“Based on all the wind studies we've done, we'll be generating 16.2 gigawatt hours of electricity annually,” says Facilities Director Donnie MacIsaac. “Multiply that by our guaranteed rate, we'll be generating about $2-million a year.”
From that money, the university will have to pay operating costs and other expenses. With a profit between four to five hundred thousand dollars a year.
The electricity from the turbine will be fed into two Nova Scotia power substations and then transferred back to the CBU. It's expected to generate about twice the amount of power than the campus will use each year.
“We want to be the first energy self-sufficient campus in Canada and by generating the 16.2khz of power here we will be energy self-sufficient,” says MacIsaac.
The money generated from the project will go into a trust fund. CBU will then decide how it will be spent. Student Union President Brandon Ellis says its great news for students.
“It's a tremendous opportunity for our students to be able to study sustainable and renewable energy.”
With pending job cuts , it’s good timing to be developing a guaranteed revenue stream.
The first of three turbines are expected to start producing power before Christmas.
