Expansions to offshore wind farm sites around the English coast, including three off East Anglia, which will provide enough power for an extra 1.4 million homes, have been given the green light.

Expansions to offshore wind farm sites around the English coast, including three off East Anglia, which will provide enough power for an extra 1.4 million homes, have been given the green light.

More capacity can be added to the Race Bank and Dudgeon sites off Norfolk and an extra Galloper site added next to the Outer Gabbard sandbank scheme off Suffolk, the government has announced.

Rob Hastings, the Crown Estate's director of the marine estate, said the extra 2GW of power had been driven by “developers' appetite” for offshore wind.

It was a positive step in the “maturing of the offshore wind industry” and would also boost offshore construction businesses.

Five wind farm developments, also based in Kent, Cumbria and in Liverpool Bay, are being allowed to extend their areas - but subject to a full, new planning application, environmental impact assessment and consultation before construction can begin.

Maria McCaffery, chief executive of industry body RenewableUK, said the announcement gave “definitive and positive” evidence of the environmental and commercial viability of existing offshore wind projects.

“The site extensions come as a direct consequence of the UK's world-beating offshore wind farms showing that, after a successful start, they have further potential for growth,” she said.