Government gives go-ahead for UK's largest offshore wind farm - thanks to "Juice" customers

Greenpeace today welcomed the news that the Government has given the go-ahead for the UK's largest wind farm out at sea. The North Hoyle project which will be built off the North Wales coast by National Wind Power, will generate clean electricity for people who have signed up to "Juice" - the UK's first non-premium truly green domestic electricity product. "Juice" was launched last year by electricity provider npower and Greenpeace.

By switching to Juice, members of the public are able to demonstrate their support for cleaner energy in the UK and for North Hoyle in particular. Hundreds of Juice customers have been involved in directly lobbying the Government to give the consent for North Hoyle. Celebrating its one-year anniversary tomorrow, Juice has already attracted 15,000 customers, a remarkable achievement, which represents nearly 30% of the UK's domestic green energy market.

Matthew Spencer, Climate and Energy Campaign Director at Greenpeace said,

"This is good news that should give more power to the consumers arm. Energy consumers are normally considered to be an apathetic bunch, but many hundreds of Juice customers have lobbied hard in support of this scheme. I'm sure it will have contributed to the DTI's confidence in giving approval to the scheme in record time. With 15,000 people now signed up to Juice we're going to raise our sights and see if we can persuade the Government to set much more ambitious targets for offshore wind"

For more information please contact Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8255 or visit www.npower.co.uk/juice