Berea College has announced plans to build a second hydropower plant along the Kentucky River. In 2021 the private southern Madison County school became the first higher education institution in the nation to complete the construction of a hydroelectric generating facility.
Berea College is partnering with Appalachian Hydro Associates to build the hydropower plant at Lock and Dam 14 near Heidelberg in Lee County. The first plant is situated along the Kentucky River 35 miles away near Ravenna.
New equipment options and design concepts will allow the Lock 14 site to produce 30% more power than the first hydropower plant. With this second project, the existing electrical usage of Berea College will be more than entirely offset by hydropower.
The Lock 14 project should take about two years to build and should be producing power by May 2024.