British Telecom Forays Into Wind Energy Production

British Telecom Forays Into Wind Energy Production

November 2, 2007 9:08 p.m. EST

Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer

London, England (AHN) - From mobile phones, British Telecom is venturing into wind energy production. The U.K. telecom giant is building wind farms expected to provide 25 percent of the firm's power requirements by 2016.

The $512 million (250 million pound) project is expected to generate 250 megawatts. British Telecom has applied for permits to install test masts at the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall, the Wildeford Hill Radio Station in the Orkney Islands and the Scousburgh Radio Station in Shetland.

BT went into energy production since it accounts for 0.7 percent of the nation's electricity usage. Following its signing of a green electricity contract, BT claims it has reduced the company's carbon dioxide discharge by 60 percent since 1996. BT also aims for an 80 percent decrease in the next nine years.

Hanif Lalani, Finance Director of BT, said, "There is a pressing need for industry to cut carbon in ways that make business sense."

BT expects some opposition to the wind farms because of a perception that it will mar the picturesque countryside landscape.