The proposed wind farm would comprise up to 270 wind turbines on offshore platforms where the Thames River meets the North Sea. It would have the potential to supply a quarter of the capital’s electricity requirements, according to planning documents submitted this week by ShellEnergy, Dusseldorf-based E.ON, UK Renewables and joint venture CORE in support of the London Array project.

The turbines – which would be located some 20km off the coasts of Essex and Kent – would generate about 1000MW and connect into Britain's national grid to supply power to more than 750,000 homes.

Shell said if the project proceeded, the current plan to build the London Array in four phases. The first phase would be a 300MW wind farm commissioned in 2007. If this was successful, three further phases of slightly smaller size would be commissioned in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively.

E.ON, the world's biggest publicly traded utility, Shell and CORE, a joint venture between Farm Energy and Denmark's Energi E2 A/S, hold equal shares in the joint venture.