London approves 230 MW wind farm

LONDON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- German energy company E.ON was granted permission to build a 230 megawatt wind farm off the northern coast of England, the government announced.

The Humber Gateway wind farm off Humberside along the northeast coast of England will generate enough power to meet the energy demands of nearly 150,000 homes, the government announced.

"Offshore wind not only provides clean, green, secure energy, the investment that comes with it is great for the U.K. economy, too," said Chris Huhne, British secretary of state for energy and climate change, in a statement.

Huhne has warned his country needs about $176 billion in new power stations and upgrades during the next decade to keep pace with demand while protecting the environment.

He noted the United Kingdom was the first to put carbon reduction targets into law but a low carbon strategy needed to dominate the regional energy mix.

"Without investment in renewables, new nuclear and carbon capture and storage, emissions will remain too high, we will become dependent on energy imports and increasingly vulnerable to fossil fuel price volatility," he said.