U.K. strikes renewable energy balance

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LONDON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The British government said Friday it gave green energy company Ecotricity permission to build a 66-megawatt wind farm while also supporting solar alternatives.

Ecotricity plans to install 22 wind turbines in northeast Lincolnshire in east-central England. Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said the facility will generate enough power to meet the annual energy needs of 40,000 homes.

A spokesman for the British Department of Energy and Climate Change said the project would contribute to plans to advance a low-carbon economy.

"Onshore wind has an important role to play as part of a balanced energy mix," the spokesman said.

British Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker told a Solar road show, meanwhile, that the British government placed solar power at the top of its renewable energy sector alongside wind. London, he said, sees solar as "affordable, bankable and ready to go."

Through its green energy initiatives, the British government is moving close to having 20 gigawatts of solar power installed by the next decade.

"(Solar) is recognized as having a future as one of the key renewable technologies in the U.K.'s energy mix," said Barker. "The potential is clearly huge."