Regional
(2010-01-21)
GREELEY, CO
(KUNC) -
Colorado State University will officially dedicate one of the largest solar power systems to operate at a U.S. university Friday. It's the second solar project to be completed within the CSU system. CSU-Pueblo dedicated the first project, a 1.2 megawatt solar array, in 2008. This new, two-megawatt solar plant at CSU's Foothills campus in Ft. Collins is expected to generate more than three and a half million kilowatt hours of clean electricity annually. That's enough to power more than 600 households for a year. Xcel Energy will buy renewable energy credits from the plant in support of Colorado's requirement that utilities generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Brian Chase is the Director of Facilities at CSU...
"It helps us meet our goals of what we'd like to do in terms of renewable energy. And it economically makes sense for the university. We are partnering with Xcel, they do contribute some money to make it economically feasible, but by locking in to a fixed price over the next 20 years, we figure we'll save several million dollars."
The plant covers 15 acres and is made up of more than 8,000 solar panels which took around six months to install. The project cost about $10 million to complete, and is expected to provide about ten percent of the yearly electricity needs for the Foothills campus.
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