Glyndebourne Turbine is officially launched

The Glyndebourne Turbine comes into action near Lewes today, on a day which is fortuitously windy.

The controversial turbine, which is some 67m high, was officially launched by the broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, a keen supporter of the structure, at the Glyndebourne Opera House for whose buildings it will generate much of the power needed.

The turbine does has its detractors though, among them the South Downs Society who described it as "Glyndebourne's Folly" when it was delivered to the site – in parts – in October.

Steve Ankers, Planning Officer for the South Downs Society – the South Downs are now a national park, said the structure would produce only a minimal amount of power. Adding: "The debate is not about whether one thinks turbines are attractive or not. People accept them in the right places when we know they're doing something worthwhile but that doesn't mean we want to see them all along the Downs escarpment, particularly if they're little more than symbols.

"Glyndebourne has many good ways of spreading a "green" message - sadly, this is unlikely to be one of them."

Many local residents, along with Ringmer Parish Council, the South Downs Society and Natural England also objected to the turbine because of its impact on the area.

The opera house said it was the only UK arts organisation to generate its own power using a large-scale wind turbine. Glyndebourne's 2012 Festival will be the first to run on wind power.

It said: "This is a ground-breaking development and an important step for ensuring sustainability for Glyndebourne and the arts."

Glyndebourne added the turbine would contribute substantially to its aspiration that 90 per cent of the power required to stage its operas would be obtained through renewable energy and that "We will be regularly publishing details of total power generated, power utilised directly by Glyndebourne and output to the grid, both on our site and at the site of the turbine."

Lewes People: Pics of Glyndebourne Turbine