Havgul, a company created by several private groups specifically for the giant wind farm project, has applied to build four wind parks in the North Sea off the coast of Moere and Romsdal in western Norway, according to NVE.

The parks would generate a total of 1,400 megawatts of electricity.

"The world has never seen anything like this," NVE chief engineer Nils Henrik Johnson told AFP, pointing out that the largest existing wind farms, located in Denmark, turn out just over 160 megawatts of electricity.

Building the wind parks offshore makes sense since industries there need more power, Johnson said, adding that ongoing development nearby of Ormen Lange, Norway's second-largest gas field, also added to the appeal.

"The pipeline (and) infrastructure will be in place to export the energy" generated by the wind farm, he said.

NVE is planning community meetings in the surrounding areas to guage how people living there feel about the proposal before deciding whether to give Havgul the green light.

"This is not going to happen right away. (Havgul) could get the go-ahead on this at the earliest in 2006, and they certainly wouldn't get started building before 2007," Johnson said.

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