A leading Swedish energy company has given the go-ahead to a 15-turbine offshore wind farm off the Whitstable and Herne Bay coast.

Vattenfall’s plan for a 49.5 megawatt Kentish Flats Extension (KFE) was approved by the government earlier this year and now its board of directors has agreed to pump in the £150m needed.

When operational in 2015, they say the Kentish Flats Extension will generate the same amount of power used by 42,000 UK households in a year on top of that generated by the existing 30-turbine Kentish Flats wind farm.

Matthew Green, who lives in Canterbury, is Vattenfall’s project manager for the scheme.

He said: “The company's investment decision was the final hurdle that needed to be cleared before building can start in 2015.

"It’s good to get that and I’m looking forward to leading the team over the next two and a half years.

"We will now complete a period of intense detailed engineering and planning for the construction phase.”

Mr Green, who managed the construction of Vattenfall’s Ormonde wind farm off the Cumbrian coast from 2009 to 2012, said: “When we start installing the 15 wind turbines off Herne Bay and Whitstable there will be a short period of intense construction activity through spring and summer of 2015.

"Building a wind farm offshore is a significant and very challenging engineering exercise.

"There will be a number of big vessels roughly 8km off the Kent coast during construction and I hope people will take a lot of interest in what we are doing.”

Cllr Mark Dance (Con), Kent County Council's cabinet member for economic development, welcomed the news.

He said: “The decision to go ahead with the extension of Kentish Flats is great news for Kent.

"We are really pleased to be able to support the expansion of one of the UK’s pioneering offshore wind farms and this major investment further strengthens the important role the county is playing in the growth of the offshore wind industry and will bring lasting benefits to our economy and people."