Football club 'powered by wind'
August 3, 2005
Manchester City Football Club is aiming to power its stadium and 2,000 nearby homes with what will be the UK's largest land-based wind turbine.
The structure - designed by renowned architect Sir Norman Foster - will rise more than 80m above the City of Manchester Stadium.
The club said the project will be "a global first in sporting history".
The three-bladed turbine will produce about two megawatts of electricity, if planning permission is granted.
The turbine will be provided by independent power company Ecotricity and the club said it will make it the first in the world to have its own green energy supply.
About 2,000 houses in East Manchester will also be powered by the turbine.
Manchester City has spent a year in consultation locally about the project and said it planned to extend its research.
Planning permission will be sought in the autumn.
Ecotricity says it is passionate about building "unobtrusive and attractive turbines" and described Sir Foster's design as "sleek".
The three blades would convert to one single point on less windy days.
Manchester City's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, said: "I am proud that Manchester City is playing a significant part in safeguarding our environment.
"The carbon emission savings from the SportCity turbine would be equivalent to that of at least 2,000 homes and would really make strides into the long-term goal of making Manchester a truly green city."
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, said the plans were a "milestone" in the company's history.
The City of Manchester Stadium was built for the Commonwealth Games in 2002.
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