UMaine Presque Isle to install (600 kW) wind turbine

[jpak]

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/93590.html

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — University of Maine at Presque Isle officials announced Wednesday that the campus expects to begin generating clean energy in late spring 2009 after reaching an agreement with general contractor Lumus Construction Inc. on a $2 million project to install a 600 kilowatt wind turbine on the northern Maine campus.

This agreement establishes UMPI as the first university in the state and one of only a handful in New England to install a mid-size wind turbine, according to officials.

University officials announced their intentions to build a wind turbine on campus last May. They anticipate that the 600 kilowatt turbine to be installed will produce about 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and save the institution more than $100,000 annually in electricity charges. Once fully operational, the turbine is expected to save an estimated 572 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year.

The campus already has broken ground on the project and a road leading to where the windmill will be located — approximately 30 yards from the baseball fields — already has been completed, UMPI President Don Zillman said Wednesday.

<more>