MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK becomes world leader in offshore wind generation

Wind farms off the Skegness coast in east England have helped make the Unite Kingdom since November the leader in offshore wind generation. The Lynn and Inner Dowsing farms are located 5 kilometres east of Skegness and when fully commissioned will transfer 194 megawatts of power to the national grid.

UK wind farms can produce up to 597 megawatts of power, taking over from Denmark, the former world leader, with 423 megawatts. Mike O'Brien MP, minister for energy and climate change, said the offshore scheme near Skegness marks a significant development of wind farms in Britain. "This development is the biggest wind farm in the world and it is making a difference. "Eventually we would like all homes to be powered by wind farms to some extent." Work started on the wind farms, owned by Centrica, last year and now 45 of the 54 turbines are operational. Centrica, parent company of British Gas, hopes to have the remaining nine working by the end of the year, by which time the wind farms will be supplying 130,000 homes in Lincolnshire with electricity. Chief executive officer for Centrica, Sam Laidlaw said: "Not only is Lynn and Inner Dowsing the biggest wind development in the world, but 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 offshore 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." Centrica is also looking into developing two further wind farms in the Greater Wash towards the middle of the next decade.