A £28,000 WIND turbine will make helping the environment a breeze for pupils at a Cornish Primary School.

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

The turbine is expected to generate 7,470 units of electricity each year – enough to make 370,000 cups of tea – saving 4.2 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, including at Bosvigo School in Truro. It 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.

Goonhavern's 15-metre wind turbine, which has a rotor diameter of 5.4 metres, will be installed 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.

Mark Roberts, manager of The Co-operative food store in Perranporth, said: "Installing this wind turbine at our local school is a fantastic way to capture the attention of children, staff, parents and the wider community on the issue of climate change.

"We want Goonhavern School's wind turbine to become a prominent symbol of renewable energy, helping to inspire everyone in Goonhavern and the surrounding area to do their bit to help the environment."

Headteacher Roger Arend said they were thrilled to be among the schools selected to receive free renewable energy technology through this initiative. 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."