Kent and Suffolk provide wind energy for the future

Expansion could power 1.4m UK homes

The Crown Estate has given British offshore wind farms the go-ahead to expand around the coast of England, providing an excellent blueprint for wind energy for the future.

The expansion will help create in the region of 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of extra power and supply power to an additional 1.4 million homes, and will take place in existing farms off the coast of Cumbria, Kent, Suffolk and Liverpool Bay.

All the extensions will be subject to full, new planning applications, the Crown Estate has said.

Expansion should provide energy to 1.4 million homes

Rob Hastings, the Crown Estate's director of the marine estate, said the announcement of the extra 2GW of power had been driven by developers' appetite for offshore wind.

"It is another positive step in the maturing of the offshore wind industry and will significantly support the growth of the supply chain as its adds further to the pipeline of construction projects," he said.

RenewableUK, the UKs leading renewable energy association voiced agreement with the expansion of existing sites. "The site extensions come as a direct consequence of the UK's world-beating offshore wind farms showing that, after a successful start, they have further potential for growth," said Maria McCaffery, the chief executive of industry body RenewableUK.

Global renewable energy market

Europe does feature strongly in the renewable energy market, helped in no small part by the volume of overseas interest and investment in the regions clean tech sector, which could play a part in further advancements of the RE sector on offshore wind farms. For example, it was announced recently that GE is hoping to build stronger relationships with suppliers across Europe as it is investing €340 million in wind turbine manufacturing in Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK.

Related articles:

New wind farm zones announced | German wind farms approved | Germany overtaken by China in wind-power market | Poseidon - wind and wave energy combined

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