The company’s CEO, Olaf Pirlo, said: “Simple ideas are often the best, and reusing existing buildings by turning them into giant windmills is much more cost-effective than having to build a turbine from scratch.
“The BT Tower is a good place to start as it is essentially the same shape as a wind turbine, but without the propellers. So we just need to stick some on the side.
“Other structures will be more challenging. For example, the Blackpool Tower has slanted sides, so we’ll probably put a horizontal propeller on it, like a helicopter. Hopefully it won’t take off if there’s a high wind!
“We are confident that we will be able to start work on the BT Tower Turbine by 1 April next year.”
However, the council is bracing itself for strong opposition as the BT Tower, formerly known as the Post Office Tower, is a Grade I listed building and one of London’s most famous landmarks.
Completed in 1964, it was the tallest building in London until 1980 when it was overtaken by the NatWest Tower.
The revolving restaurant was closed in 1980 and has not reopened since. In its heyday, the restaurant rotated once every 23 minutes, which engineers said would be fast enough to reorient a side-mounted turbine so it could respond to changing wind direction.
This is a story about April 1st