The RNLI has installed its first station wind turbine, at Aith, Shetland – the charity’s most northerly lifeboat station. The turbine, a 20kW Westwind unit, was switched on in the Autumn of 2009 and should generate around 40,000kWh a year.

Standing 15m tall on the breakwater that protects the station’s all-weather lifeboat berth, it is expected to be worth about £11,000 a year to the RNLI, by powering the station and through selling excess electricity to the grid. This will add up to more than £250,000 over the turbine’s 25-year life, simply by harvesting the power of the wind – a resource in plentiful supply in Shetland.

The RNLI received about 90% of the turbine’s cost from grants, so payback on capital expenditure will take only a matter of months.

Aith is just one RNLI site with great potential for wind energy, and more are being assessed. Meanwhile, other renewable energy sources are also being considered to reduce the charity’s carbon footprint, while saving precious pounds and euros. Solar panels are a standard fitting to mobile lifeguard units. Several groundsource heat pumps are already in use, for example at the RNLI Grace Darling Museum in Northumberland, and these are being included in all new projects where practical (see page 48 for another example).