More than £460 million has been raised for the world’s first dedicated offshore wind fund to invest in wind farms off the UK’s coasts.

The UK Green Investment Bank said that £463 million in capital had been committed by investors for a planned £1 billion fund to be invested in offshore wind farms.

The Government-backed bank is also investing £200 million in the fund, and it has transferred its investments in two existing offshore wind farms into the fund, giving investors an immediate cash yield.

The two wind farms are Rhyl Flats off the coast of North Wales (with 25 turbines) and the 88-turbine Sheringham Shoal off the coast of Norfolk; between them, these two farms produce enough clean energy to power 305,000 homes.

The announcement comes at the end of the bank’s financial year, in which it has committed £723 million to 22 ‘green energy’ schemes, bringing the total number of projects it has backed since it began operating in November 2012 to 46, with a total value of almost £7 billion.

Projects backed across the UK in the last year range from offshore wind farms to replacing boiler systems in sheltered housing, hydropower schemes, energy-from-waste plants and energy-efficiency investments in distilleries.

Shaun Kingsbury, chief executive of the bank, said: “Offshore wind is playing an important role in the UK’s energy infrastructure. By 2020, we expect it to be providing enough clean energy to meet the electricity needs of 8.2 million homes across the UK.

“Attracting additional capital and creating a liquid market for operating assets is an important step in reducing the cost of offshore wind and supporting the continued growth of the sector.”