Cape Breton University to officially open its own wind farm

HALIFAX - - The official opening of Cape Breton University's wind farm on Saturday recognizes not just the green initiative, but also marks a major achievement, according to the university's president.

"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.