A school that boasts its own wind turbine generator and rainwater harvesting system will be officially opened tomorrow.

Energy secretary Brian Wilson will preside over the ceremony at Catchgate Primary School, near Stanley, at 3pm.

The £2.1m eco-friendly building has already been highly commended in the Business Commitment to the Environment and County Durham 2001 Environment Awards.

Headteacher Ken Joel said: "The old school provided nearly a century of excellent education to generations of Catchgate children.

"We have the facilities in our new school to continue this tradition into the 21st Century."

Many of the original materials have been retained, including the mahogany floors, cast iron pipes, radiators and roof slates.

As well as being a model of environmental consideration, the building's eco-friendly features are a valuable educational resource for the pupils.

The green theme continues throughout the building. Natural daylight is used to maximum advantage, so reducing artificial lighting running costs.

Meanwhile, practical work areas have been created at strategic positions, where extensive roof lights and glazing are in place.

The 20KW turbine was installed by npower, and provides virtually all of the school's power with surplus energy sold to the national grid.

Automatic lighting controls, using detectors, are installed in all classrooms and switch off when rooms are unoccupied or sufficient natural lighting is available.

Durham County Council worked closely with Northumbrian Water in the design and installation of the rainwater harvesting system.

To further the council's aims of sustainable development, a local manufacturer of cables, AEI Cables, of Birtley, agreed to supply PVC-free wiring for the school.

Chris Tunstall, the county council's environment and technical services director, said: "This school has many innovative and exciting features.

"We wanted to create a stimulating school to provide the best facilities for learning.

"We adopted a partnership approach from the start of the project and it has been very successful.

"Everyone involved has played a major part and the end result is this fantastic new facility."

Partners in the design and construction of the school were Northumbrian Water, npower, Thorn Lighting, Durham Constabulary, DTA Structural Consultants and AEI Cables