Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE) division Airtricity has joined forces with US based Fluor Limited, the UK operations division of Fluor Corporation, to create a new consortium for winning exclusive rights for the development of wind farms under Crown Estate's Round 3 Offshore Windfarm Development Programme.

The new consortium, Seagreen Wind Energy Limited, combines the two companies' experience in offshore wind operations and project delivery, engineering and construction, as well as maintenance services. The two companies have developed the 500 MW Greater Gabbard Offshore Windfarm located near Suffolk, which is to be completed in 2011. The two companies have also received an exclusive agreement for the development of the Bell Rock Offshore wind farm in Scottish territorial waters.

It is useful to point out that this is the second consortium formed by SSE for the purpose of bidding for the Round 3 projects. Back in February, the company said it was joining forces with RWE Innogy and two Norwegian groups – Statkraft and Statoil Hydro, to form a consortium called Forewind.