£160m pledged for offshore wind power in promise to "build back greener"

The first modern wind turbine was built in 1941

Boris Johnson has pledged £160 million for offshore wind power.

The money will upgrade ports and factories for building turbines, with a target of producing enough electricity from wind energy to power the equivalent of every UK home by 2030.

The prime minister says the UK is going to become "the world leader in clean wind energy".

Wind turbines can be as tall as 200 meters

The project will create 2,000 jobs in construction and support 60,000 more.

The government is raising its target for offshore wind power capacity by 2030 from 30 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts.

The pledge is the first stage of a 10-point plan from Boris Johnson and the government, for a "green industrial revolution". They will announce more details of the plan later in the year, but they have said the aim is to "accelerate our progress towards net zero emissions by 2050".

In 2019, the government announced that nearly 30% of the UK's electricity would be generated by wind power by 2030.

Wind turbines have blades that can move at a speed of up to 200 mph

What is wind power?

Wind power or wind energy is the process that uses wind to generate mechanical power or electricity.

Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy - caused by movement generated by the wind - into mechanical power.

This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water), or can be converted into electricity by a generator.

Offshore wind has become an increasingly affordable source of clean energy in the UK.