A WIND turbine is being erected at the Riverside Stadium in a multi-million pound deal, making the Middlesbrough Football Club the in the country to generate its own electricity.

The 136m tall device located in the venue’s overflow car park will provide all the power required for the stadium for the next 20 years from next May.

It is being supplied in a £3.5m deal by London-based renewable energy developer, Empowering Wind Group, which is expected to gain “several million pounds” during its lifetime.

Middlesbrough Football Club chief executive, Neil Bausor, said: “We are delighted to launch this pioneering initiative in association with Empowering Wind, which gives us a major environmental lead in football.

“Energy consumption is a key factor for all businesses and we have worked incredibly hard in recent years to reduce our costs significantly.

"It is exciting to think we will become the UK’s first football club to have a completely sustainable energy consumption programme."

The turbine will have an oversized rotor with fewer moving parts and therefore reduced operating and maintenance costs. It starts generating at a wind speed of only 2.5m per second and will save an estimated 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the environment each year.

Empowering Wind’s chief executive, Paul Millinder, added: “Middlesbrough Football Club needs congratulating on its far-sightedness in launching this pioneering long-term initiative with us, which is the first of its kind in Europe and possibly worldwide.”