* New ‘Round 3' rights granted in 9 UK coastal zones
* Potential for 6,400 additional turbines generating 32GW far exceeds previous plans
* £75 billion offshore wind industry could support up to 70,000 clean energy jobs by 2020
* These are high value jobs in manufacturing, research and engineering, installation, operation and services

The UK's long term energy and climate security was strengthened substantially today as The Crown Estate, owner of the UK's coastal seabeds, granted rights to energy companies to develop the biggest expansion of wind energy ever seen in the world. The announcement has the potential to see an additional 32GW of clean electricity feeding into the UK grid, on top of 8GW from previous rounds. 32GW is enough offshore wind energy to supply nearly all the homes in the UK and will mean an extra 6,400 turbines. Investment in UK offshore wind overall could be worth £75 billion and support up to 70,000 jobs by 2020. The next generation of offshore wind farms that will be developed under the licenses announced today will require larger and more efficient turbines, capable of generating 5MW of power. It was hailed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband, who met The Crown Estate in London today.

Sharp Corporation has increased annual production capacity for solar cells at its Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture by 100 Megawatts to meet burgeoning demand in Japan and abroad, and has constructed a system that will be able to enter full production by November 2006. The expansion has cost approximately 3.5 billion Yen ($30 million). As a result, solar cell production capacity at the Katsuragi Plant will reach 600 MW per year, the world's highest.

Sharp says that despite concerns in the photovoltaic power generating market about a shortage of processed silicon, the raw material for solar cells, PV systems are increasingly being used in Japan for industrial applications and are being installed on new residential construction in collaboration with home builders.