Cape Breton University to officially open its own wind farm
"It sends a signal to the world what's possible. We're gonna need a lot more of these kinds of projects in a carbon-constrained world," says David Wheeler.
The facility began generating power in mid-January. The project cost CBU more than $17 million, but the plan is to turn the turbines into a money-maker by selling excess electricity to Nova Scotia Power.
Money-maker
The electricity from the 98-metre-high turbines will be fed into NSP substations at Victoria Junction and Glace Bay.
The arrangement was made possible by a community feed-in tariff program introduced by the province in 2010. The program was closed last year to new applications.
The program pays a premium rate per kilowatt-hour for energy fed into the electricity system by small-scale, green energy producers.
Nova Scotia achieves milestone level of wind power generation
Under the terms of a 20-year contract with the province, the university will receive 13.1 cents per kilowatt hour for the electricity, which adds up to about $2.1 million in annual revenue, according to a CBU news release.
Wheeler and university chancellor Annette Verschuren will officially open the CBU wind farm at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. They'll be joined in the ceremony by Nova Scotia Energy Minister Michel Samson.
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