HELPING the environment will be a breeze for pupils at Elm CofE Primary School in Wisbech when a £28,000 wind turbine is installed with funding from The Co-operative. Installation of the 5kW wind turbine has been made possible with a £10,000 grant from T

HELPING the environment will be a breeze for pupils at Elm CofE Primary School in Wisbech when a £28,000 wind turbine is installed with funding from The Co-operative.

Installation of the 5kW wind turbine has been made possible with a £10,000 grant from The Co-operative's Green Energy for Schools scheme with £14,000 match-funding from the Government's Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP).

The turbine will be installed in the New Year and is expected to generate 4,380 units of electricity each year - enough to make 219,000 cups of tea - saving 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The Co-operative has spent more than £1m installing solar panels at 100 schools across the UK during the past year and is now investing a further £1m to install solar panels at 60 schools and to pilot three additional renewable technologies - wind turbines, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps - at over 20 schools.

Elm CofE Primary School's 15-metre wind turbine, which has a rotor diameter of 5.4 metres, will be installed on the school field by leading UK wind turbine installer Sundog Energy.

A monitor in the school building will enable pupils to keep track of how much energy the turbine is generating and the amount of carbon dioxide they have saved to date.

Kelly Hubbard, manager of The Co-operative Travel branch in Wisbech, said: "We want Elm Primary School's wind turbine to become a prominent symbol of renewable energy, helping to inspire everyone in Wisbech and the surrounding area to do their bit to help the environment."

Headteacher Chris Child added: "Our wind turbine will reduce the school's reliance on fossil fuels and save us money on our electricity bills while providing us with an invaluable resource for educating pupils about green energy.