Offshore wind developers in Scotland had a bumper year in 2012 according to a new report.

New figures revealed for the first time that a total of £164.5 million worth of investment was made by the sector into the Scottish economy, with almost 40% of that (£65 million) made in 2012 alone.

The Scottish Renewables’ ‘Offshore Wind: Investing in Scotland’ report also showed projects with more than 4GW of potential installed capacity, which is enough to power three million households, entered the planning system last year. The investment was made in advance of the projects gaining consent and included those in research such as environmental and technical engineering surveys and project demonstration.

Andy McDonald, Renewables Director at Scottish Enterprise said: “These latest figures underline the progress made to date in getting initial projects off the ground and creating opportunities for Scottish businesses entering the offshore wind supply chain… The business infrastructure and strength of the supply chain are critically important in helping building confidence for the longer term to ensure investment and employment levels grow further as this new industry becomes firmly established as a key sector driving economic growth and environmental gains for Scotland.”

The news comes as the UK was revealed to be the leader in the offshore wind industry in the EU, with 854MW of capacity installed last year.