Jobs boost from offshore wind announcement

• Potential for 6,400 additional turbines generating 32GW far exceeds previous plans
• £75 billion offshore wind industry could support up to 70,000 clean energy jobs by 2020
• These are high value jobs in manufacturing, research and engineering, installation, operation and services

Hornsea near Hull could play a big role in the massive expansion of offshore wind in the UK, with the capacity to generate enough energy to power 2.7 million homes and potentially creating thousands of jobs.

The announcement has the potential to see an additional 32GW of clean electricity feeding into the UK grid, on top of 8GW from previous rounds.

32GW is enough offshore wind energy to supply nearly all the homes in the UK and will mean an extra 6,400 turbines. Investment in UK offshore wind overall could be worth £75 billion and support up to 70,000 jobs by 2020.

The next generation of offshore wind farms that will be developed under the licenses announced today will require larger and more efficient turbines, capable of generating 5MW of power.

It was hailed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband, who met The Crown Estate in London today.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:

"Our policies in support of offshore wind energy have already put us ahead of every other country in the world. This new round of licences provides a substantial new platform for investing in UK industrial capacity. The offshore wind industry is at the heart of the UK economy’s shift to low carbon and could be worth £75 billion and support up to 70,000 jobs by 2020. This announcement will make a significant and practical contribution to reducing our CO2 emissions and the Government will work with developers and The Crown Estate to support the growing offshore wind industry and help remove barriers to rapid development."

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said:

"Our island has one of the best wind energy resources in Europe and today’s news shows that there’s a huge appetite for capacity to be built here. We now need to make sure we’re poised to harness the potential that appetite brings for business for UK companies and new green jobs. We did it before with oil and gas in the North Sea and we’ll do it again for offshore wind."

Ministers including Ed Miliband will be jointly hosting events with The Crown Estate around the country that bring together developers and UK businesses.

Minister for Yorkshire and The Humber, Rosie Winterton, said:

“This is a major and very exciting step forward. It’s a massive boost for our region’s economy. The opportunities created by offshore wind energy are enormous – we are talking about potentially thousands of jobs.

“The expansion of wind energy production off our coast also puts Yorkshire and The Humber at the forefront of moves towards a low carbon future and confirms our position as a world leader in clean energy. I will continue to work hard with partners across our region to ensure we capitalize on this and other developments in clean energy production and technology.”