A colony of internationally protected seabirds is threatened by plans to place the world's biggest wind farm in the Thames estuary, conservationists warned today.
A planning application was submitted yesterday for the £1.5bn scheme, which would involve constructing 270 turbines 12 miles off the Kent and Essex coasts.
The site for the scheme is a 150 sq mile sandbank that is the winter feeding area for almost 8,000 red throated divers. The bird is protected because of its declining numbers.
A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said: "We have concerns about the proposal, because of the internationally important population of red throated divers on and around the wind farm site."
But he praised the developers of the scheme, London Array Ltd, for consulting the RSPB about the plans and already agreeing to reduce the area covered by the turbines.
The Port of London Authority is also worried about the scheme because of its potential hazard to shipping.
London Array claims that the new scheme could supply power to a quarter of London's homes. It would also be capable of meeting 10% of the government's 2010 renewable energy target.
If planning permission is granted the first turbines would go up in 2008, with the whole scheme due to be completed by 2011. But a planning inquiry is likely before approval is given.
Despite the concerns of the RSPB, environmental campaigners welcomed the plan.
Tony Juniper, the director of Friends of the Earth, said: "Climate change is the biggest threat the planet faces. Projects like the London Array wind farm are exactly the sort of development that is urgently required to tackle the problem, and help meet UK government targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions."
He added: "Renewable energy has a huge potential, and this development would be a significant move toward a cleaner and greener future."
The planning application will be considered by two government departments, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry, as well as Swale and Canterbury councils.