Top 10 green energy schemes named

The schemes, which began operation in 2005, were exciting and innovative, the Department of Trade and Industry said.

They include offshore turbines in Kent, the solar-powered CIS tower in Manchester and a wave buoy in Cornwall.

A target of supplying 10% of the UK's electricity from renewable energy by 2010 has been set by the government.

Energy minister Malcolm Wicks said: "The projects highlighted have certainly made their contribution to reducing carbon emissions and increasing the megawatt capacity that comes from green sources."

'Considerable progress'

He said they had also helped people understand "what renewable energy is and where it comes from", and added it was essential for the UK to make "considerable year on year progress" if the 2010 renewable energy target was to be met.

The list includes three wind farms, three solar-power projects, and two examples of microgeneration, or projects with lower outputs.

In Pictures: Some of the winning projects

According to the government, the 30-turbine Kentish Flats wind farm has been described as "the Ferrari of the turbine world".

Black Law A in South Lanarkshire was one of the largest wind farms approved in the UK, and the Cefn Croes project near Aberystwyth the most powerful when it opened in June.

The CIS tower in Manchester - the city's tallest building - was on course to be the biggest user of solar panels in the UK.

And the biomass plant in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, was singled out for producing a "revolutionary new wood pellet bio fuel", created by burning sawdust and woodchips.

The wave buoy project off the north Cornwall coast was highlighted as a project that would "speed up the installation of one of the world's first wave farms".

The site is being investigated as a possible wave hub location - an offshore electrical socket that would be connected to the national grid.

Also included in the list are: