A LEADING figure behind the development of a £2.1 billion wind farm off the coast of Brittany has said his company would be willing to join a similar venture in Jersey’s territorial waters.
Ailes Marines vice-president Emmanuel Rollin made the comments to the JEP during a trip to the St Brieuc project, which lies 23 miles south-west of Corbière and can be seen from the Island’s coast on a clear day.
When completed, it will provide power to more than 800,000 homes.
Mr Rollin, who was interviewed as part of a three-day series focusing on wind and other renewable energy, said: ‘Whether this happens in Jersey is beyond my control, but I believe that there could be opportunities.
‘We know now after our work here [in St Brieuc] that we are ready, and if there’s a project in Jersey, then we’ll be there.’
Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf recently confirmed that he saw ‘a significant opportunity’ for the Island to develop renewable offshore energy.
Shortly after being elected as a minister in July, Deputy Renouf said he would prioritise an investigation into the ‘significant offshore wind potential’ identified in a 2018 pre-feasibility study and subsequently incorporated into the Bridging Island Plan.
Jersey Electricity also stated that it was ‘accelerating research’ into the development of an offshore wind farm, having unsuccessfully brought proposals for such a project to the government in 2015.
Chief executive Chris Ambler said in July that he believed the technology was ‘close to being economically viable’, while the former head of Jersey Met, John Searson, added his support to calls for the Island to set up a wind farm.
The first 24 platforms of the St Brieuc project are now in place, with the remaining 38 platforms scheduled to be fixed to the seabed next summer, after which the masts and turbines will be attached and electricity will flow to the French coast via an offshore substation and undersea cables. The turbines are made up of a 90-metre mast and three 80-metre blades.
Although the St Brieuc project made slow initial progress after Ailes Marines – a company owned by Spanish power giant Iberdrola – won the tender in 2012, the three-year installation phase was on target, Mr Rollin confirmed.
