The construction contract has been awarded to Bouwcombinatie Egmond, a cooperative venture between wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and offshore specialists Ballast Nedam.

The €200 million ($A317 million) farm will have a combined generating total of 108MW from 36 turbines, producing enough electricity each year to power 100,000 homes. The project will begin producing energy at the end of 2006 and Nuon will oversee the supply of the power to the Dutch energy market.

“The construction of the wind farm is fully in-line with Nuon’s policy to make the energy supply more sustainable and to expand energy production in its core countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany,” said Nuon chief executive officer Ludo van Halderen.

“The wind farm off the coast of Egmond an Zee offers a new opportunity for Dutch customers to access sustainable energy harnessed here in the Netherlands.”

In addition to supplying power, the farm will participate in a research project to study offshore wind energy. The research will focus on the environmental impact of offshore farms as well as the economic and technical performance of farms, with an eye to constructing even larger farms further out to sea.

“As a learning project this farm is important for the Netherlands and the whole offshore industry,” said Shell Nederlands president Rein Willems.

“While government subsidies remain critical for any industry in the early stages, the investment will bring economic competitiveness that much closer. And so the knowledge and experience we accumulate in this project will play a key role in making the ever-increasing demand for energy more sustainable.”

The project is being funded by the Dutch Government under the Electricity Production (Environmental Quality) Act, the Ministry of Economic Affair’s carbon dioxide reduction plan and the Energy Investment Incentive tax allowance program.

Royal Dutch Shell has also teamed up with other energy firms in a bid to build the world's largest wind farm in the UK.

This proposed £1.5 billion offshore project east of London would comprise up to 270 wind turbines on offshore platforms where the Thames River meets the North Sea.