Mount Wachusett Community College e-News Sept. 20, 2010

Mount Wachusett Community College anticipates the delivery of two wind turbines during the week of Sept. 20, as plans advance to add wind energy to the college's existing renewable energy sources.

The props, towers and other components that will make up the two wind turbines will arrive from Canada for installation on the south side of the Gardner campus this fall, said Edward Terceiro, resident engineer at MWCC. The anticipated arrival date is Sept. 22 through Sept. 24. Installation of the turbines will commence in the coming weeks, anticipated to be completed during late fall or early winter 2010.

The turbine projects at MWCC and at the North Central Correctional Institution, also in Gardner, are a joint collaboration of the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and the Department of Energy Resources to achieve the renewable energy goals of Gov. Deval Patrick's Leading by Example program, which calls for increasing the use of renewable power and energy efficiency at state facilities.

"The Lieutenant Governor and I have challenged our state agencies to lead by example in the use of clean and renewable sources of energy," said Governor Deval Patrick. "These wind turbine projects in Gardner are a testament to that success and will yield both environmental benefits and lower energy costs. I look forward to the beginning of more projects like this and to making Massachusetts the leader in this field," he said.

"Wind projects such as this are exactly what Governor Patrick had in mind when he committed his administration in 2007 to Lead by Example on clean energy," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said. "State wind projects like those that will soon be producing emission-free power at Mount Wachusett Community College and just down the road at the Department of Correction's Gardner facility are helping to meet the Governor's ambitious goal of 2,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2020."

MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino said the wind project is coming to fruition after more than five years of planning, and with the support of the Patrick Administration and Congressman John Olver, who secured more than $3 million in federal grants for the project.

"With the turbines, biomass and solar energy, we'll be the most energy-independent college or university in New England. That's money we can put back into the classrooms," President Asquino said.

The two 1.65MW Vestas V82 wind turbines at MWCC are expected to produce 4,978 KWh hours of electricity annually. As a result the turbines will annually generate approximately 97% percent of the college's electricity consumption and will return approximately 30% of the power generated back into the grid.

The $9 million wind project is being funded through a variety of sources, including $3.2 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants secured by Congressman John Olver; $2.1 million from a low interest Clean Renewal Energy Bond (CREB) made available through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act; and $3.7 million from Massachusetts Clean Energy Investment Bonds. The project is expected to produce nearly $1 million in annual revenue and, after paying off debt service, the project is expected to net the college over $600,000 annually.

This spring, DCAM awarded both the MWCC and NCCI Gardner turbine contracts to JK Scanlan Company, Inc. of East Falmouth to install the turbines, which were manufactured by Vestas of Denmark.

Increasing wind power is essential for meeting mandates set by several pieces of clean energy legislation passed in 2008, including the Global Warming Soltuions Act, which requires Massachusetts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 25 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent 2050.

In 2002, MWCC was at the forefront of the campus climate movement when it converted its all-electric main campus in Gardner to a biomass heating system The conversion has slashed the college's carbon footprint by 24 percent, electricity usage by 46 percent and water usage by 52 percent, and has achieved a cost savings of $3.83 million to date.

Last year, MWCC installed a new 100 kW photovoltaic solar array on the main campus, as well as a solar thermal heating. In addition, the Northeast Veteran Training & Rehabilitation Center, located on MWCC's Gardner campus, is equipped with solar electricity and geothermal heating and cooling.