Octopus Energy is bringing clean, green energy to Manchester’s winter festivities by installing a portable wind turbine, at Skate Manchester. The first-of-its-kind partnership will see the 15-metre tall, 15kW turbine partially powering the rink. Octopus will also power the community initiatives at both Skate Manchester and The Queen’s House ice rink in Greenwich, London as well as providing exclusive offers at both rinks for Octopus Energy customers.
Rather than the traditional Christmas tree, Mancunians and those visiting the city can enjoy all Skate Manchester has had to offer in recent years, while being able to spin, glide and skate around a 15-metre festive themed wind turbine.
Octopus has two mobile wind turbines, designed to demonstrate the speed and simplicity of onshore wind installation. With sustainability at the heart of Skate Manchester, the turbine now makes its debut in Manchester to celebrate the city’s growing role in the UK’s energy transition.
Octopus and Skate will be running an online customer competition to name the festive turbine, with the most creative entry winning ten VIP tickets for Skate Manchester.
The community programme, powered by Octopus, will see both rinks support over 100 community partners, giving over 5,000 people the opportunity to skate for free or at a heavily discounted rate. As part of the partnership, Octopus Energy customers can also take advantage of a 2 for 1 skating offer as part of its customer reward scheme, Octoplus.
Octopus will also be inviting local recipients of its grassroots football initiative, ‘Octopus Kits for Kids’, for free skating sessions at the rinks in Manchester and Greenwich. Launched in 2024, the programme has already distributed over 27,000 free football kits to youth teams across the UK, with another 27,000 planned for 2025.
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Octopus Energy, commented:“Our festive turbine is swapping sleigh bells for spinning blades this Christmas, and we couldn’t be more excited. Onshore wind is one of the UK’s cheapest, greenest power sources, and what better way to show it off than by helping light up the ice at Skate Manchester. We can pop up a mobile turbine in just a day, proving renewable energy is quick, fun and brings real benefits to local communities.”
Cllr Pat Karney, Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council said, “Whilst we do love a white Christmas here in Manchester, we’re actually going all out this year to make Christmas in our city as green as we possibly can, with a Santa’s eye to the future to help protect and preserve our Christmases for years to come. Ice-skating has to be one of my favourite things to do – I absolutely love it – but skating round a festive wind turbine is definitely going to be a first and I just can’t wait!”
Early bird tickets for Skate Manchester and The Queen’s House ice rink are available now, with discounted family tickets and student night tickets also available. For more information and to book tickets, visit https://skatemanchester.com/ or https://thequeenshouseicerink.com.
