3 Michigan-based wind parks to provide renewable energy for University of Michigan

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3 Michigan-based wind parks to provide renewable energy for University of Michigan

By District Energy posted 05-04-2021 17:32

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mlive.com

Summary

About half of the purchased electricity at the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus will come from renewable energy sources within the state, including three new wind-energy parks.

The parks – two in Isabella County and one in the Upper Peninsula – began operating in April and will reduce UM’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which equals annual emissions generated by 12,000 homes, according to a university news release.

In a 2019 agreement with DTE Energy, UM committed to purchasing approximately 200 million kilowatt hours per year of electricity produced by new wind parks.

The Isabella County wind farms contain 136 turbines with a capacity of 383 megawatts, making them the state’s largest wind parks, according to the release. Fairbanks Wind, located in the UP’s Delta County, has 21 turbines with a capacity of 72 megawatts, the release states.

“I am very pleased that, as a result of these wind farms, the Ann Arbor campus will transition its purchased power away from carbon-intensive sources and toward local, renewable clean power,” UM President Mark Schlissel said in a statement.

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