The UK has made its way to the top spot in the European rankings of overall investment in wind farms last year, ploughing an estimated €13 billion (£11.2bn) into new installations.

That’s according to a new report by the organisation WindEurope, which estimates Europe invested €43 billion (£37.3bn) in new wind farms in 2020, the second-highest annual amount on record.

The total is 70% up compared to that in 2019, the data shows.

The analysis indicates that large projects, including Dogger Bank in the UK and Hollandse Kust Zuid in the Netherlands, have boosted the numbers.

An estimated €17 billion (£14.7bn) was spent for onshore wind, covering 13GW of new capacity while €26 billion (£22.5bn) was for 7GW of new offshore wind capacity.

Giles Dickson, WindEurope Chief Executive Officer, said: “Wind energy remained an attractive investment despite the pandemic. Given the right revenue stabilisation mechanisms are in place, there is plenty of capital available to finance wind.

“This confirms wind energy is perfectly positioned to support Europe’s economic recovery from Covid. Each new turbine generates €10 million (£8.6m) of economic activity in Europe.

“And the expansion of wind energy envisaged in the National Energy and Climate Plans can create 150,000 new jobs by 2030.”