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University greens up its act with sun, wind and wood

Thursday, October 15, 2009

By BRIAN MEDEL Yarmouth Bureau
Thu. Oct 15 - 4:46 AM

CHURCH POINT — One of the largest solar-powered hot water heating installations in Atlantic Canada is operating here on the campus of Universite Sainte-Anne.

A $2.5-million project has now been completely paid for, mostly from federal and provincial money, said Allister Surette, vice-recteur of development and partnerships at the university.

The installation, which will also serve as a renewable energy demonstration project for the region, includes three components designed to save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in heating and electrical costs, he said.

A wood-chip-fuelled hot water heater, known as a biomass furnace, will replace an oil-fired hot water heater.

"The entire campus in Church Point is heated by hot water," Mr. Surette said Wednesday.

"Right now we’re spending about $400,000 a year on fuel . . . and we’re pretty confident that we’ll be spending less than $200,000 a year with wood chips," he said.

Not only will using the biomass furnace reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money on fuel bills, but wood chips will be brought in by a local company, creating a few jobs.

"We also signed a contract with Spec Resources," said Mr. Surette. The Digby County firm is installing the biomass furnace and will deliver wood chips.

Hubert LeBlanc, president of Spec Resources Inc., said wood from underused species of trees, like tamarack, may be used in the biomass furnace. The added work will provide some extra jobs, although he could not say how many.

Now, 118 large solar panels have been hooked up to a hot water boiler. Both systems, the biomass furnace and the solar panel installation, will supply hot water to all buildings on campus.

In summer, when the biomass furnace won’t be operating at full capacity, solar panels will heat the water for the campus.

And a 50-kilowatt wind turbine will be installed to reduce the dependency on electricity.

"We expect maybe a $10,000 to $15,000 . . . savings on electricity," said Mr. Surette.

The university’s reduced operating costs will free money for programs and student services, said university president Andre Roberge in a news release.

"As a result of this three-component project we will likely be the greenest university in Canada by the end of this year," he said.

MaManna Renewable Energy of Dartmouth will install the solar hot water installation and the wind turbine.

MaManna also builds, designs and installs the units, said a university news release last month.

The solar panels are functioning now, the wind turbine is expected to be running by the end of November and the biomass furnace is expected to be running by late December, said Mr. Surette.