by Brianna Crandall — Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) in Gardner, Massachusetts, activated its two new utility-scale wind turbines on March 25. MWCC is working with utility company National Grid, which reviewed data collected during a test run on March 18 before giving the go-ahead for Vestas technicians to activate the system on the 25th. During the break-in period, the turbines will run intermittently.
The huge investment in renewable energy is expected to provide an annual savings of approximately $700,000 based on the area’s current utility rates—a figure that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says more than offsets the annual debt service on the turbines.
Together, the Vestas V82 1.65 megawatt turbines are expected to meet 97 percent of the college’s electricity consumption, while also producing revenue for the college by returning approximately 30 percent of the power generated back to the grid.
The $9 million wind project is being funded through a variety of sources, including U.S. Department of Energy grants; a low-interest Clean Renewal Energy Bond (CREB) through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act; and Massachusetts Clean Energy Investment Bonds.
In addition to the wind project, MWCC’s energy initiatives include biomass heating, photovoltaic solar, and solar hot water, as well as numerous conservation measures throughout the campus’s 450,000 square feet of buildings.
