Government research grants of up to £194,000 for offshore oil operator Talisman and its research partner Scottish and Southern Energy are to help fund a study to design the world's first deep water offshore windfarm.

The companies are looking to build up to 200 turbines linked to Talisman's existing Beatrice oilfield which could generate up to 1000 megawatts – or about half of the new generation needed to meet the Scottish government's target of generating 40 per cent of all electricity from renewable sources.

The grant from the Executive and the DTI will be used to fund a front end engineering study to develop a full scale demonstrator adjacent to the Beatrice oil field.

Talisman Energy is one of the biggest independent Canadian oil and gas producers with operations in Canada, the North Sea, and the Far East.

Scottish and Southern Energy is one of the largest energy companies in the UK, involved in the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity. It is the UK's leading generator from renewable sources in the UK, owning and operating nearly half of the country's renewable energy capacity.