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Britain set for world's biggest wind farms

Plans for the world's largest offshore wind farms moved a step closer today with the announcement of 15 new sites around the UK coastline.

They will be located at 15 sites in three areas - the Thames Estuary, Greater Wash, and the North West.

The wind farms - which are expected to be producing electricity by the end of the decade - will provide between 5.4 and 7.2 Gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity - enough electricity for more than one in six UK households.

Today's announcement comes only weeks after the government announced proposals to boost financial support for renewable energy by extending and raising the level of the Renewables Obligation and giving more financial stability to investors.

Energy Minister Stephen Timms said the proposals proved the government was committed to a greener future.

He said: "This is the biggest expansion of renewable energy anywhere in the world, and demonstrates that we are serious about moving towards a cleaner, greener future.”

The new Energy Bill, which is currently going through Parliament will enable developers to build wind farms more than 12 nautical miles out to sea, beyond territorial waters.

Details of the sites, together with the developers chosen to build them, were revealed today by The Crown Estate, which leases the seabed around the UK.

Of the 15 wind farms, three are fully outside territorial waters and include the world's largest proposed offshore wind farm, in the Greater Wash area, 30- 40km off the Lincolnshire Coast, which could have up to 250 or more turbines, and provide up to 1.2 GW of generating capacity.

Today's announcement follows the commissioning in November of the UK's first large-scale offshore wind farm at North Hoyle in Wales and an important government decision, taken on December 1st, to boost investor confidence by expanding the renewable obligation from 10% by 2010 to 15% by 2015.