Offshore wind farms get green light

The government has today (Monday) given the green light for the construction of enough offshore wind farms to power 15% of British homes.

It is thought the programme could involve investment of up to £6bn and create an estimated 30,000 jobs.

This is the second round of leasing to be announced for offshore windfarm development. The first round, announced in December 2000, resulted in 17 proposals from developers, two of which are already under construction at North Hoyle, near Rhyl, and Scroby Sands near Great Yarmouth.

In total Round 1 should result in more than 500 turbines, generating 1.5GW - enough to power all the households in Manchester. Round 2 however, is far more ambitious in scale, with each farm comprising hundreds - rather than tens of turbines; enough to power more than 3.5m households or almost 9m people.

Three strategic areas of shallow waters have been identified by Crown Estates, which owns the rights to the seabed around Britain, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as appropriate for development: Thames Estuary, Greater Wash and North West.

The sites were originally identified in November in the DTI's Future Offshore consultation, but have since been subject to rigorous environmental assessment, to assess the impact of proposed development, before sites could be offered for leasing.

Making the announcement, trade secretary Patricia Hewitt said: "The Energy White Paper committed us to providing 10% of energy from renewable sources by the year 2010, and an aspiration to double that figure by the year 2020. This announcement represents a big step towards meeting our goals."

Windfarm developers have been invited to tender for sites in all the areas, with site leases to be awarded in the autumn and construction expected to begin in the next few years.