OFFSHORE wind has the potential to meet more than a quarter of the United Kingdom's electricity needs, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change. And the British Wind Energy Association believes this form of renewable energy will eventually power every home in the UK.

Speaking at an association conference, the Energy Minister, Lord Hunt, said that an extra 25 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind energy capacity could be accommodated around the UK's shores in addition to the 8GW already built or planned.

This finding will allow a new third round of bids to build further offshore wind farms and gives the go-ahead for the tendering process for 15 billion pounds' worth of cabling to connect future clusters of wind turbines.

Lord Hunt added: "Offshore wind is fundamental to delivering our target of 15 per cent of renewable energy by 2020, and looking ahead to 2050 to reducing our carbon emissions by 80 per cent."

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) conference heard that offshore wind has the potential to provide the UK with up to 70,000 new jobs and 8,000 billion pounds in annual revenues.

Rob Hasting, a director of the Crown Estate that controls the foreshore and seabed around the UK coast, has welcomed the confirmation of the extra 25GW energy target and agreement on a programme for providing transmission equipment.

He said: "These are significant milestones in delivering one of the major components of the UK's offshore renewable energy programme, including round three of offshore wind which, combined with rounds one and two, aims to deliver 33GW by 2020, a quarter of the UK electricity needs."

The BWEA - which claims to be the UK's leading renewable energy trade association with 485 corporate members - believes that not only is the UK's offshore wind capacity set for a "massive" expansion, but will also bring about a fall in the cost of energy. A spokesman said: "Wind has been the world's fastest growing renewable energy source for the last seven years and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions."

In two key reports launched at the recent Offshore 09 Conference held in London, the association set out the timetable and potential costs for the expansion, and predicted: "The offshore energy revolution, which saw the country become world leader in 2008 in terms of installed capacity, could eventually see every home in the UK powered by electricity from offshore wind by 2020."

BWEA chief executive Ms Maria McCaffery said: "The report on offshore build-out predicts that we will have a cumulative installed capacity of up to 9GW by 2015. That these projections are credible is shown by our report from 2007 which accurately predicted the point at which we are today. Wind will overtake nuclear in terms of installed capacity within the next four to five years, as an important milestone in reaching 2020."

Of the future cost of wind power, she commented: "Our report on costs predicts that offshore prices over the next five years will depend on investor confidence. It will take three to four manufacturers in the market to boost competition enough to start pushing down prices. If we achieve an annual deployment of around 4-5GW Europe-wide, then we could see prices fall by as much as 20 per cent from today's 3.1m pounds per megawatt. Round three is set to deliver the UK proportion of this capacity..."

The UK is said potentially to have the largest offshore wind resource in the world, with relatively shallow waters and a strong wind resource extending far into the North Sea. It is estimated to have more than 33 per cent of the total European potential offshore wind resource, enough to power the country nearly three times over.

The possibility of an offshore wind energy industry was first raised nearly 30 years ago following the success of the first offshore wind farms in Denmark. But it was not until 1996 that steps were taken to establish the first two UK wind farms off the east coast. Blyth, offshore of Northumberland, became the UK's first offshore wind farm when it was commissioned in December 2000.

Since then, the industry has grown through a series of what are known as development rounds that has been managed by the Crown Estate on behalf of the UK government.

While rounds one and two were planned to provide 8GW of power, the latest round three now under way is aimed at a giant step forward to provide 25GW, with the first of these wind farms being completed by 2018. Seven offshore farms are already producing electricity, and the UK industry has reached and passed by a comfortable margin the third gigawatt of installed wind-generating capacity.

The UK is underlining its major commitment to wind power and other climate change measures by becoming a member of the new International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) that was recently set up at a conference in Bonn. Irena aspires to become the main driving force for promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale. There are more than 100 signatory states and the agency will be formally brought into being once 25 countries have ratified the statutes.