Roof-mounted wind turbine could cut (pounds) 120 a year from average electricity bill

Nov. 25-Herald, The; Glasgow(UK)

THE world's first domestic wind turbine designed to be mounted on the roof of a typical house and supplement its main electricity supply was launched in Scotland yesterday.

Costing (pounds) 750, the 3ft by 2ft turbine will bolt on to any wall or gable. Windsave, Mr. Gordon's company, says it will cut 15% off the average domestic electricity bill.

Remote metering will check every quarter to see how much electricity the turbine has made, allowing Windsave to claim back the government subsidy, the renewable energy certificates, from which it will make its profit.

Windsave proposes to take only a 20% benefit from the certificates and redistribute 80% to customers in a green dividend. This could be worth about (pounds) 120 a year to the customer.

The testbeds for the windmills will be local authority multi- story housing blocks in Glasgow and north Lanarkshire, and the Glasgow Fruitmarket, allowing the councils to cut down their electricity bills.

Councils such as Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford and Swindon are keen to follow and at least one government public building, yards from the Houses of Parliament, has a turbine spinning in the London wind.

The micro wind generator is said to be a clean and noiseless way of generating electricity and can be plugged straight into the mains on any 13-amp socket. The system allows electricity to be generated from wind speeds as low as 3mph.

Brian Wilson, MP, the former UK energy minister who has declared a non-financial interest in the company, described it as a "truly revolutionary breakthrough in the energy market with global applications".

Speaking at the launch in Glasgow yesterday: "The potential is limitless. It is an extremely clever piece of work and there is no reason why a wind generator on the roof should not now become a standard piece of plug-in household equipment.

"The consumer and the environment both win. This brings a third dimension to the wind power industry - onshore, offshore and now plug-in."