In a speck of good news amidst the gloom, the UK government announced today that Britain has overtaken Denmark to become the world’s biggest producer of offshore wind power. The rise to the top of the global league table follows the construction of a new wind farm off the coast of Skegness, Lincolnshire, which increases the UK’s total electricity generation from offshore wind sources to 590 megawatts (MW), enough to power 300,000 homes.

Mike O’Brien, a minister at the newly created Department of Energy and Climate Change, also said that further work is already underway to further cement Britain’s new found global wind power standing saying, “Overtaking Denmark is just the start, there are already five more offshore windfarms under construction that will add a further 938MW to our total by the end of next year.”

Although the news has been welcomed by many voices in the renewable energy sector, there have been some reservations. In particular, some campaigners have pointed out that the UK is still one of the poorest European performers in terms of its total overall output from renewable sources. However, the country’s new found global prominence in offshore wind is likely to lend further strength to calls for large scale investment in other key renewable energy sectors.