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McLean of Energia, says: “We feel that we have been
entrusted with providing the power to keep the wheels of education
turning and create the next generation of Northern Ireland’s
working population so we take this very seriously indeed.”
“We are delighted to be the new provider of electricity
to the Southern Education and Library Board (SELB). The local
wind farm that will provide SELB’s electricity, at Altahullion,
near Limavady, will be switched on later this month”,
Mr McLean continued.
Robert McCreery, Energy and Environmental Officer for the
SELB commented, "This agreement not only achieves a significant
saving in energy costs for schools but also enables the SELB
to meet emission reduction targets set by the government.
From a school perspective, this initiative not only saves
on scarce resources but also highlights the environmental
benefits that can be achieved at individual school level."
The five boards are responsible for not only the entire educational
output of primary and secondary schools but also employ thousands
of teachers and staff at over 1,800 schools, colleges and
libraries in Northern Ireland.
The boards represent an energy consumption of over 80GWh,
which is equivalent to an annual bill in excess of £7m.
The switch from brown to green energy will benefit the boards
and the country not only because of environmental advantages
of renewable energy but also because of lower cost.
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