Renewable energy capacitycould overtake nuclear power in the UK by 2018 if current growth rates persist, and will provide enough power for one in 10 British homes by 2015, according to new research by RenewableUK.

The findings also revealed that the amount of electricity supplied by wind energy alone is up by 25 percent since 2010, with the industry poised for further growth given the 50 percent rise in planned investment in onshore wind, according to a report by the Guardian.

Investment in offshore wind energy in the UK has risen by 60 percent to 1.5 billion pounds ($2.41 billion) in the past year.

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Speaking at the organisation's annual conference and exhibition in Glasgow, Maria McCaffery, chief executive of Renewable UK, said:

These strong figures underline the importance of a secure trading climate to attract investment, especially in difficult times. That's why it's so important that the framework provided by the energy bill, currently under parliamentary scrutiny, must be right. Although we still have a long way to go to meet our challenging targets, we are firmly on track and gathering momentum.

he energy bill, originally expected to be debated next week, is likely to be delayed until later in November as ministers in the UK disagree over the government's climate-change policy.

Energy Minister John Hayes was yesterday quoted by the Telegraphsaying "enough is enough" and that the country is "peppered" by wind farms.

Hayes, who has previously described wind turbines as a "terrible intrusion" on local communities, also suggested there will be reviews commissioned into the noise that turbines create and their relationship with the landscape.

He said:

We can no longer have wind turbines imposed on communities.I can't single-handedly build a new Jerusalem but I can protect our green and pleasant land. We have issued a call for evidence on wind. That is about cost but also about community buy-in. We need to understand communities' genuine desires. We will form our policy in the future on the basis of that, not on a bourgeois Left article of faith based on some academic perspective.

He added that there are sufficient wind turbines already in the planning system, with 4,000 turbines due to be built across the country in the coming years.

Prime Minister David Cameron has in the past said renewable energy would be crucial to the UK's future prosperity.

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