Wind turbine for island school

Primary pupils on the Island of Raasay will be able to learn first hand all about energy produced from wind as they now have their very own 15 metre tall wind turbine erected directly outside the school.

The energy produced from the 6 kilo watts turbine will be used to help provide heating and lighting in 18 pupil school and help towards slashing electricity bills. 

Councillor Michael Foxley, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Climate Change Working Group said:   “The turbine will make a small but very meaningful contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of the school and I am sure everyone will enjoy learning more about generating power from our natural resources.”

The cost to install the turbine was £32,000, 50% of which came from a Government grant.

Thanks to a programme of installations of solar water heating and solar electrical generation, ground source heat pumps, wood fuelled (biomass) boilers and wind turbines at its highest energy consuming buildings, The Highland Council is well on its way to meeting its target of producing 4,000 kilowatts of renewable energy by 2010.