Eneco says it will build a 900MW to 1.2GW-sized wind farm in a 76 square mile area in the northern part of the 279 square mile zone that it was awarded by the Crown Estate last year.

The wind farm will be located around 8.2 miles (13.2km) away from Peveril Point in Swanage at its closest point. The northern boundary of the site is located 10.2 miles from Bournemouth and 8.4 miles south west of The Needles and the Isle of Wight coast, Eneco says. The average water depth for the project is 38m.

Chris Sherrington, director of the project said: “This is an important milestone in the lifetime of the development of this project and enables us to look to the future and consider wider impacts such as the positive economic benefits our project could bring to the area.”

The decision on the wind farm’s location was reached after Eneco carried out a zone appraisal and planning (ZAP) process, received feedback from stakeholders, and studied the findings of engineering and environmental studies.

Now that the location has been identified, Eneco will undertake a formal consultation process in accordance with the Planning Act of 2008 on the project as a whole. Next steps include consultation on the onshore infrastructure associated with connecting the wind park with the National Grid and conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Eneco expects to submit its consent application to the Infrastructure Planning Commission in 2013, and start construction on the wind farm in 2016. The wind farm will become fully operational in 2019.

Eneco will be holding a series of public information days to give the general public an opportunity to hear more about the ZAP process and the location of the wind park between 16 – 31 March. The public will be given the opportunity to name the wind farm within the next month, Eneco says.

Developer Eneco Wind is a subsidiary of Rotterdam based utility Eneco. In the UK, it currently has two onshore wind farm projects in Scotland.

Eneco sketches out plans for up to 1.2GW UK offshore wind farm