Britain launches new drive for offshore wind power

"We are on the cusp of phenomenal growth," said BWEA chief executive Maria McCaffery. "People with eye-watering amounts of money to invest are coming to talk to us. What we need is consistent government policy."

The association said that such was the growth of on and offshore wind power that within five years it would provide more electricity than nuclear power as the country's aged nuclear plants are retired.

Nuclear power provides 19 percent of Britain's electricity, a percentage that is set to decline rapidly in the next few years in the absence of the new build the government says the country urgently needs.

(Editing by James Jukwey)