A NEW offshore wind farm is to be sited 10 miles off the coast of Wirral.

Situated in Liverpool Bay near the North Wales coast, Gwynt y Môr will be one of the largest offshore wind farms in construction, eventually supplying power to around 400,000 UK homes.

The windfarm will be built 18 kilometres off the North Wales coast amd will be visible from Wirral.

Offshore work is due to start next year and will be finished in 2014.

Investment in the project - which is a joint venture between energy giant RWE Innogy, infrastructure company Stadtwerke München and Siemens Energy - amounts to more than two billion Euros.

The new windfarm will be near The Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm, which is situated at the entrance to the River Mersey, is approximately 4.5 miles from north Wirral and home to 25 wind turbines.

Commenting on the new windfarm, Gerry Ellis, Conservative councillor for Hoylake and West Kirby, told the Globe: "I'm in favour of windfarms generally, we’re lucky to have them as part of the greener environment, and when planning applications are submitted for them, I'm always concerned that they are not situated too close to the coast.

"It's regrettable that windfarm companies don't make more of an effort to consult with other local authorities.

"Even though this windfarm will be out of the area, it will still be in view of Wirral residents."

Professor Fritz Vahrenholt, chief executive of RWE Innogy, said: "In 2008 we started making RWE greener. With an output of almost 580 MW and an annual saving in CO2 production of around 1.7 million tonnes, Gwynt y Môr will contribute significantly to this.

"This is the fifth offshore wind farm which RWE is not only developing but also building – a balance to be proud of."

In its first phase of expansion, the wind farm is planned to generate electricity as early as 2013.

From then onwards, it is forecast to generate around 1,950 gigawatt hours of electricity annually.

Liverpool Bay in North Wales is characterised by comparatively shallow water and very high wind speeds.

For this project Siemens Energy will receive the contract not only for supply, erection and maintenance of the wind turbines, but also for electrical connection of the Gwynt y Môr wind farm to the mainland.

Siemens will supply and erect 160 wind power installations, each with a capacity of 3.6 megawatts for the Gwynt y Môr project.

The company will also be responsible for connecting the wind turbines to the grid and for maintenance of the wind farm for five years.