A Sheringham inventor is seeking someone to patent his wind turbine design which he says will help produce wind energy more efficiently.

Wrenford Thatcher, 67, from Sheringham, has developed a new type of wind turbine which he says will operate at lower speeds than wind turbines currently do and also store wind energy – something which currently wind turbines cannot do.

A physicist by trade, Mr Thatcher came up with his design while teaching school children in Somerset about wind energy.

He decided to go into teaching after retiring to pass on the message about wind energy.

He said; 'This wind turbine is capable of working at a much lower speed than other turbines. Other turbines start working where there is wind gusts of about 4mph or 5mph, this one starts when there is even just 1mph gusts.

'It is also less obtrusive and can be made to store energy, which again other wind turbines do not do.'

In Mr Thatcher's design, the wind energy can be stored as pressure in the column of the turbine or into a lithium ion battery on the turbine.

He is now looking to be able to get the design patented, as he says he cannot afford to do this by himself.

Mr Thatcher, who moved to Sheringham three years ago and is originally from Somerset, is also aiming to get his paper documenting the invention, published in the Institute of Physics Journal.

Dan Rigden, editor of specialist wind energy and renewables publication, ReNews, said: 'People are trying to come up with efficient ways of storing power created by wind turbines. Wind turbines at this point do not store energy the question is how much energy can this model store?

'In terms of the wind turbines only operating at a higher speed, that is they way they have been designed, there is not much point in capturing very light amounts of wind because it does not have much power, wind turbines have to be more robust to capture more wind.'

Mr Thatcher said the amount of energy which could be stored would depend on the size of the turbine built. He also maintained his design would be more efficient at a lower speed.

? Anyone who can help Mr Thatcher is asked to contact him on 07515 436680.