Dutch wind farm

Scottish and Southern Energy (

), through its renewables development division

, has obtained consent from the Dutch government to build the West-Rijn offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

West-Rijn will be made up of approximately 72 wind turbines with a total potential energy capacity of around 260MW. It is expected to make a major contribution to the Dutch national target of 6,000MW of offshore wind capacity by 2020.

SSE said it will now focus on the final phase of the development process, securing financial support from the Dutch government through its renewables support mechanism (SDE).

‘This is a major achievement for SSE in particular and for the Dutch wind energy industry in general, being the first offshore wind farm to be consented in the Netherlands for almost seven years,’ said Paul Dowling, chief executive of Airtricity.

‘The Dutch market is an important new area for SSE's renewable development team and West-Rijn is the first in a number of projects that will give us the opportunity to become the leading offshore wind developer in the Netherlands.’