A nearly $20 million combined heat and power system project is expected to allow Eastern Michigan University to produce most of the electricity and heat for the school's Ypsilanti campus.
A crane is scheduled to lift a 55-ton turbine Thursday and place it into the campus's heating plant.
The school says the system will use natural gas to simultaneously produce electricity and steam heat. It is scheduled to begin operations next spring.
The new turbine will generate about 98 percent of the heat and 93 percent of the electricity to the campus. The previous unit supplied about 50 percent of electricity and heat.
It's also expected to cut Eastern Michigan's annual energy costs.
The new system replaces a 29-year-old unit that was shut down about a year ago.
