Large-scale investment in offshore wind would generate more wealth for the economy and create more jobs than relying on gas-fired power plants, according to the report.

Substantial deployment of offshore wind by 2030 would have only a marginal impact on electricity prices but would boost growth, cut dependence on gas imports and reduce emissions, it said.

The study,  for WWF-UK and Greenpeace by Cambridge Econometrics, compared a scenario with steady growth in offshore wind capacity in the 2020s with a power system where there was no new offshore wind post-2020, with significantly more gas used to meet electricity needs.

Focusing investment on wind power would create up to 70,000 more jobs in 2030 than relying on electricity from gas-fired power plants.

According to the analysis, which comes ahead of the government publishing its gas strategy this week, GDP would be £20bn (0.8%) higher in 2030 if there was a focus on offshore wind.

The study suggests electricity prices would only be 1% higher if the UK relied heavily on offshore wind, as gas import prices are forecast to rise and the costs of offshore wind to fall as deployment is scaled up.

Carbon emissions would be two-thirds lower with large-scale investment in offshore wind than if the UK stuck with gas for electricity supplies and the country would save £8bn a year on gas imports by 2030.

The benefits to the economy from investing in wind still outweigh focusing on gas, even if gas prices are lower than expected and even if a significant supply chain does not develop in the UK, the report claims.

Exploiting unconventional shale gas through fracking will have little impact as it would be a benefit to the economy in both scenarios, used either as a domestic gas supply or exported if the UK was relying more on wind, the report said.