Wind energy company Airtricity has been awarded a lease to build and operate a 500 megawatt offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary.
Airtricity has won the contract as part of a joint venture with the UK subsidiary of US engineering and construction firm Fluor.
Airtricity is currently developing a wind farm at Arklow Bank in the Irish Sea.
The company says the UK project will produce enough energy to power more than 300,000 homes. The joint venture partners will now carry out an environmental impact assessment, which will take around 15 months.
