JERSEY and Guernsey have agreed to explore the potential for an offshore wind farm in Channel Island waters, it has been confirmed.
Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf told the JEP that he had held discussions with his Sarnian counterpart and that they had agreed to meet regularly in the future to consider the scope for a project.
News of the government-level discussions follows the issuing of a report into renewable energy by politicians in Guernsey, as well as enthusiasm from Jersey Electricity about the opportunities available through wind-generated power in the Island’s waters.
A group of 15 Sarnian Deputies published the scoping report outlining the prospects for an offshore facility, which they say could transform the Guernsey economy by attracting tens of millions of pounds in annual option and lease fees.
Deputy Carl Meerveld, president of the States Assembly and Constitution Committee (SACC) in Guernsey, carried out the bulk of the research into offshore wind energy.
He said: ‘I would like to see more co-operation between Guernsey and Jersey on both large and small projects.
‘I would definitely like to explore the opportunity of putting something together with Jersey, as I feel that by having a larger combined project, the chances of having a large company investing in such a scheme would increase.’
Deputy Meerveld said that Jersey’s territorial waters had the advantage of shallower sea depth, which would be likely to allow wind turbines to be fixed to the ocean floor. This was a more affordable option than floating platforms, he said, although Guernsey had the advantage of slightly stronger and more consistent levels of wind, he added.
Deputy Renouf said that he had discussed the collaborative working with Deputy Lindsay De Sausmarez, president of the Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure in Guernsey.
‘We have committed in principle to work together on this,’ Deputy Renouf said. ‘From my point-of-view we are very keen to explore it and doing so together would absolutely make sense.’
Looking at whether a wind farm could be developed was ‘a potentially very exciting project’, Deputy Renouf added.
‘We know that this would work in terms of producing clean energy, and it could also work economically, so from both angles I would be keen to explore it further,’ he said.
Deputy Renouf said he was ‘very committed’ to continuing discussions with Deputy De Sausmarez, which he said he hoped would take place regularly every four to six months, and could become more frequent in the future.
Deputy Meerveld was adamant that now was the time to commit to wind power.
‘This is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss,’ he said. ‘There is a danger if we don’t act quickly enough, that other sites will become available, and in two or three years we will be at the back of the queue.’
In producing the report into renewable energy, Deputy Meerveld said his group wanted to encourage the Policy and Resources Committee – the senior committee of the system of government in Guernsey – to support the concept and set up a cross-committee group to take it further.
The Guernsey report highlights a potential zone for a wind farm off the Island’s west and south coast, with the eastern-most part of this lying close to the area identified by Jersey Electricity close to the south-western limit of Jersey’s territorial waters.
Jersey Electricity produced an Offshore Wind Pre-Feasibility Study in 2018, which concluded that Jersey had ‘significant offshore wind potential’ and that extracting energy from 5% of the Island’s waters ‘would satisfy over three times Jersey’s current annual demand’.
Speaking earlier this month, as part of a JEP series that also highlighted the development of a French wind farm in the Bay of St Brieuc, which is visible from the Channel Islands, Jersey Electricity chief executive Chris Ambler said the company remained enthusiastic about generating clean energy from wind.
