A consortium led by Eddie O'Connor's Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP) has been given consent by the UK government to develop a massive 1.2 gigawatt series of windfarms off the coast of Yorkshire.

The Hornsea 1 project, a joint venture between MRP's SmartWind tie-up with Siemens Project Ventures and also the Danish company Dong Energy, will generate enough electricity to power 800,000 homes.

Mr O’Connor, a former Bord na Mona chief executive, has previously said the initiative could cost up to £3.5 billion (€4.4 billion) to develop. The Irish company owns a third of the project, with Siemens providing much of the financing and MRP contributing much of the development experience.

The windfarms are due to be operational by 2020, the joint venture partners said on Wednesday.

UK planning officials said Hornsea 1, which will incorporate three separate windfarms, will need between 150 and 332 wind turebines, depending upon their size.