A wind energy firm wants to build a power generation plant on a sandbank in the Irish Sea.

Eirtricity said its plan to construct plant about 10 miles from the Wicklow coast at Arklow would cost up to €750 million at full capacity. The sandbank is 24km long and 2.5km wide.

Controlled by former Bord na Mona managing director Dr Eddie O'Connor, Eirtricity hoped the environment and energy directorate generals in the European Commission would con tribute to the project's cost.

Dr O'Connor also anticipated interest from some of the 14 consortiums bidding to manage three similar but smaller projects in Britain.

Plant capable of producing 60100 megawatts could be operational next year, he said.

The company's regulatory affairs director, Mr Declan Flanagan, said Eirtricity had annual revenues exceeding £20 million and was in gross profit. It claimed some 6,500 customers in the small and medium business sectors.

At a briefing yesterday, Dr O'Connor said the ESB's use-of-system charges to use the domestic network were "outrageous".