Airtricity is to build the Netherlands’ largest wind turbine park on sea, the subsidiary of the British utility group, Scottish & Southern Energy Plc (SSE) announced on February 25.

The new wind farm, Breeveertien 2, would be built 55 kilometres from the coast near IJmuiden in the north-west Netherlands. It would have a capacity of 350 megawatts, providing electricity to 390,000 homes, Airtricity said.

Existing wind turbine parks in the Netherlands have a capacity of no more than 141 megawatts. It is the second time the Dutch water and transport ministry has given Airtricity a license to develop a wind farm on sea.

The West-Rijn wind farm, to be built 40 kilometres from the coast of Hoek van Holland near Rotterdam, is still under development. Airtricity specialises in renewable energy and operates wind farms across Europe. In January 2008, the company was sold to electricity and gas provider SEE, Britain’s largest generator of renewable energy. SEE is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of around 19 billion Euro.