THE next phase of investigations into the feasibility of a wind farm in the Island’s territorial waters – involving export market negotiations with the UK and France – will be carried out “in house” with existing funding, the Environment Minister has said.
Deputy Steve Luce provided the update shortly after publication of his Offshore Wind Energy report [see full story on page 8].
It documents the findings of research into the feasibility of an offshore wind farm – of up to one-gigawatt in generating capacity – in the south-west of the Island’s territorial waters.
In September, a response to a request made under the Freedom of Information Law revealed that a total of £941,541 has been spent on this work since 2023.
“The reason it cost the level it does is that the people that have done the work for us are hugely specialist in this area,” Deputy Luce explained, adding that “we needed to spend the money to get to where we are”.
“It was important to demonstrate that we are serious about this project.
The newly-published report recommended holding off on a decision to progress such a project until there is “sufficient engagement” with the UK and France to determine market conditions and export access.
The government has said it will continue to speak independently to both jurisdictions “to clarify market access”.
Deputy Luce confirmed that this work would use current budgets and resources and that the government was not seeking extra funding in the 2026 Budget.
“Every opportunity that politicians, ministers or officers have to try to progress this, we will do,” Deputy Luce continued.
He explained that, “if we find we’re in a position to move forward”, the matter could be brought back to the Council of Ministers and the States Assembly for funding considerations.
But he added that: “As we stand at the moment, we feel that we can cope with the next phase of trying to negotiate some export markets – we can do that in house, with the budgets approved, just inside the department.”
