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The UK has overtaken Denmark to become the world's
number one for wind farms built offshore, with 597MW fully
constructed. The achievement has been made possible after building
work finished at Centrica's Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms near
Skegness.
Offshore wind farms now have the potential to power the equivalent
of around 300,000 UK homes. This follows the Prime Minister's
announcement at the British Wind Energy Association's conference
this morning that the UK now gets 3 gigawatts of electricity from
wind power.
Mike O'Brien, Minister of State at the new Department of Energy and
Climate Change made the announcement whilst visiting the wind farms
off the coast of Skegness this morning.
Mike O'Brien said:
"As the Prime Minister himself said this morning, we are now getting
3 gigawatts of our electricity capacity from wind power. That's
enough to power more than 1.5 million homes. Offshore wind makes up
20% of that capacity and the wind farms I am visiting today are the
ones that have made the UK the world's number one for offshore wind
power, knocking Denmark off the top spot."
"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. There are
already five more offshore wind farms under construction that will
add a further 938 megawatts to our total by the end of next year. We
are also assessing plans to increase the total by a massive 25
gigawatts in the future. That's enough electricity for every home in
the country."
"This will ultimately help in the fight against climate change and
further secure the UK's energy supplies - two of the goals of the
new Department of Energy and Climate Change."
Mike O'Brien also announced that consent has been granted to
Centrica to build the 250MW Lincs offshore wind farm next door to
the ones he visited today.
Centrica CEO, Sam Laidlaw, said:
"Not only is Lynn and Inner Dowsing the biggest wind development in
the world, it represents a major milestone on the journey to secure
the UK's future energy needs. It's pleasing that our wind farms help
the UK reach the top ranking in off shore wind power in the world
but importantly it underlines the significant investment to supply
our British Gas customers with renewable electricity in the years
ahead."
The news that the UK is now the world leader in wind power follows
today's announcement by the Carbon Trust to help accelerate offshore
wind power in the UK. The Carbon Trust will work with five major
energy companies, on a new £30m initiative to cut the costs of
energy from offshore wind by 10%.
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust said:
"The UK has an amazing opportunity not just to lead the world but to
be the dominant global player. Our research shows that by 2020 the
UK market could represent almost half of the global market for
offshore wind power. To make that happen it will be critical to
improve the current economics of offshore wind power. By working
with five major offshore players, the Carbon Trust is aiming to
reduce costs, increase performance and improve the economic
viability of offshore wind farms."
Mike O'Brien will address the BWEA conference tomorrow.
Maria McCaffery MBE, BWEA Chief Executive
"Today is a momentous day for the UK, as we are now a global leader
in a renewable energy technology for the first time ever. Now is the
time to step up the effort even further and secure the huge
potential for jobs, investment and export revenues that offshore
wind has for Britain. We look forward to working in partnership with
Government to ensure that this vital technology is deployed so we
can deliver on our ambitious renewable target for 2020."
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