THE Environment Minster has said he is “determined” that the States Assembly will have agreed “detailed” proposals for an offshore wind farm before the next election.
Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce lunch event yesterday, Deputy Steve Luce revealed that experts were currently evaluating connection options for the proposed offshore wind farm, including links to power grids in France, Jersey or the UK.
In April, the States Assembly approved a proposition to further investigate the opportunity to develop a wind farm, of up to one-gigawatt in generating capacity, in the south-west of Jersey’s territorial waters.
The decision followed a public consultation, which ran from November 2023 to February 2024.
“Last year, I went to the States Assembly, and I said, in principle, I would like you to support the potential wind power possibilities in Jersey’s waters,” Deputy Luce told business leaders at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel yesterday.
“Here’s an area of seabed that we’d like to use. Here’s an approximate amount of power we’d like to produce.”
The minister said that his team was now working on detailed proposals.
“I will come back to the Assembly before the end of this year with the detail, and I’m very hopeful,” he said. “I’m determined for the next election that the States Assembly will have made a decision about having a wind farm, where it is, how many turbines it will be, where it will be plugged into, how it will work.”
The Minister said that securing final approval before the 2026 election would allow the next government to “move forward with selecting partners” before beginning construction.
