UK is new leader in offshore wind power

Tuesday, 21 October 2008 12:00 AM

Britain is now the world leader for offshore wind power after the completion of two wind farms off Skegness.

Energy firm Centrica has completed construction of its Lynn and Inner Dowsing farms, taking the capability to 597MW - enough to power approximately 300,000 homes - and putting Britain above Denmark in the offshore wind stakes.

The news was announced by energy and climate change minister Mike O'Brien while visiting the wind farms this morning.

"Offshore wind is hugely important to help realise the government's ambition to dramatically increase the amount of energy from renewable sources. Overtaking Denmark is just the start," he said.

And £30 million of funding has been allocated to cut the costs of energy from offshore wind by ten per cent.

This morning prime minister Gordon Brown announced Britain now gets three gigawatts of electricity from wind power, about one-fifth of which is taken from offshore farms, as the government continues its drive to boost offshore wind.

Last December then business secretary John Hutton announced plans to develop up to 7,000 wind turbines off Britain's coastline by 2020.

Such a move would see one offshore wind turbine for every half-mile of UK coastline, increasing the UK's wind energy capacity 30-fold to 34 gigawatts.

The government's strategic environmental assessment for Britain's coastal waters will put it in line with EU goals to see renewable energy sources providing 20 per cent of Europe's energy by 2020.

Tags:
• domestic policy
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• energy
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• environment