Offshore wind farms represent a "significant opportunity" for the insurance industry, which regards it as an attractive investment area says Willis.

The broker adds that the UK is a world leader in offshore wind energy, with nine offshore projects operational and seven under construction, which will have doubled its wind capacity to 1,500 megawatts by the end of 2009.

The government aims to generate up to 20% of Britain's electricity from renewables by 2020, with 33,000 megawatts derived from offshore wind energy.

Willis's comments coincide with this week's eighth annual British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) offshore wind event in London. "Offshore wind is a significant opportunity for the insurance industry, with the market expected to grow nearly 30-fold between now and 2020," says Michael Buckle, executive director of its Willis Renewables team

''That growth will be driven by some 40 to 50 new wind projects, each with multi-million pound construction premiums. So it is no wonder that insurers are seeing offshore wind as the next big growth area.'

"We are aware that the offshore wind industry faces many daunting infrastructural and economic challenges, but the long-term benefit of a decarbonised community will only be achieved through sheer persistence, leaps in technology and the realignment of interests into strategic alliances.

"The insurance industry is increasingly interested in this arena and Willis is coming to the fore to facilitate and support the capital markets and insurance product innovation necessary for offshore wind pioneers to push boundaries and meet the 2020 goals."

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