Guernsey told not to wait on a wind farm financial windfall, as the island may miss out

Thursday 21 November 2024

According to a locally based offshore wind project developer, the seabed to Guernsey’s West is an ideal location for a Wind Farm, and could end up being a big earner if excess power were to be sold to nearby neighbours.

At an open event on Wednesday morning the Co-Founder of Dyna Energy; Dr Mark Leybourne, Deputy Carl Meerveld (States offshore wind sub-committee), Huub den Rooijen CBE (Ex-Crown Estate, offshore wind industry pioneer), and Mat Desforges (Business Strategy Lead, Guernsey Electricity), all fielded questions as part of a panel, from interested parties, community stakeholders and a selection of the island's politicians.

What was presented? 

The idea is to create a wind farm to Guernsey’s west, by leasing the sea bed out, they can sell then sell any excess power generated to markets such as the UK or France. 

“Guernsey has got very good natural conditions. It's very windy, it's not too deep," said Dr Leybourne. "It's very close to big markets that need a lot of power. Both France and the UK are looking to buy a lot of offshore wind over the next 20/30 years, and develop it themselves, but they're also both struggling to meet their targets

“They need more offshore wind farms. So Guernsey is a really good place to be able to sell its own natural resource to those two markets, because that would help both, and that's an opportunity for export, rather than just about the Guernsey solution.”

Pictured: Guernsey's horizon to the west could be the new home of any potential wind farm, due to the high wind speeds, seabed level and available space.

There was also the mention of a potential collaboration with Jersey, although that could still depend on the delicate dance going on between the two islands’ governments over the ferry tender.

Dr Leybourne kicked everything off with his presentation, which showed Guernsey has a space of roughly 600km² which would be suitable for a wind farm potentially capable of producing 2,000mw, whilst Jersey has a space suitable in the region of 300km², potentially producing 1,000mw. 

Dr Leybourne says this is a considerably higher output than is needed locally, so provides a potential windfall.

“That is orders of magnitude bigger than what the island needs," he said. "So we can provide some of that power back to the island to complement everything else that's here. But this is about export, this is about how the island makes revenue money out of it.”

A wind farm won’t spring up on Guernsey’s Horizon overnight. From deciding to approve any potential infrastructure, through to having a fully functioning finished wind farm will take between 7 - 13 years according to the experts, but the States representation on the panel says that timeline isn’t accurate when it comes to a potential wind farm windfall.

Deputy Meerveld was an outspoken member of the panel during the open event. He’s part of the offshore wind group, which is a subgroup of Policy and Resources, which has been commissioned to look at a utility scale wind farm off the coast of Guernsey. 

“Something on this scale, does not happen overnight," he acknowledged. "It will take many years of planning and securing the assets, the ships to install it and the turbines themselves to install, before it's actually up and running. That doesn't mean that Guernsey doesn't earn revenue for seven or eight years, certainly in the UK and other places, the developers are paying up front for the exclusive right to do that development.”

He also told Express that if everything goes to plan, Policy and Resources could be bringing the plans to the States Chamber by Spring next year. 

“Well, the offshore wind group is hoping to present a draft policy letter to Policy and Resources in early January. So then it will be up to Policy and Resources, as the lead committee, who's sponsoring this group, to decide when they want to bring it. But if it was published late January, it would probably debated in March.”

Pictured: Dr. Mark Leybourne presenting to the packed room at the OGH. The breakfast event attracted islanders in the triple digits. 

Although the political timeline may be in the near future, Guernsey maybe should be keeping an eye on the long term. According Dr. Leybourne, the Bailiwick has an advantage against larger jurisdictions, but needs to continue making progress. 

“We're making a good start. I think now, it's important to keep on with that. France is moving ahead quite quickly. They need to do a lot over the next two or three years. We will see the area directly to our west, right on our waters, potentially being tended out by the French. It's really important that Guernsey keeps its first mover advantage and gets in ahead of that.”

What was the reaction like?

The room was full to the brim, with interested members of the public, private sector representation, and members of our elected government. Questions came quickly, and on a variety of topics, including financials, potential cooperation, and alternative options, such as a tidal generator.

Several members of the panel referenced how important community engagement is for projects like this. Ensuring the public are informed and also listened to. 

Dr Leybourne was pleased with the turnout, and how engaged the audience were.

“We were surprised to have all the tickets taken for today. So we had a full room. We had really good engagement, I think, 40 minutes of questions, and there were some really good questions. People here, I think, either understand the subject or have looked at it before. 

“The questions are the right ones to be asking. And there's a good general level of understanding of the offshore wind sector and the opportunities.” 

This was something picked up by Deputy Meerveld also.

“I've been pleasantly surprised at how positive the reaction of the average Guernsey person has been. There will always be people that say 'I don't want to see that on our horizon under any conditions', but the majority of Guernsey people have actually been saying to me, 'why haven’t we done it already?' You know, it seems like such a good idea on multiple levels, the fact that we would be making a massive contribution beyond our size, towards reducing global warming, the fact we regenerated significant revenue for our community, all the positives.

“I would expect that Policy and Resources and the States will be going out and doing a lot more of this, with all the stakeholders, a lot more engagement and raising the profile of this project, once we start actually deciding our direction of travel.”

Pictured: The panel during the Q&A session. From left to right. Mat Desforges (Guernsey Electricity, Huub den Rooijen CBE (Offshore Wind Expert), Deputy Carl Meerveld, and Dr. Mark Leybourne (Dyna Energy). 

Power generated through Guernsey’s tidal range has been a topic on the tongue of interested islanders for years now, with many citing the strong currents and large tidal ranges that envelope our coasts. However the experts on the panel all agreed that the technology just isn’t there right now, although Dr Leybourne says it could be of interest in the future, but Wind Power is what Guernsey should be focusing towards.

“Guernsey’s got a big resource for wind. It's got a resource for tidal, so one day, that might come along as well. 

“(Wind) is your natural resource that you can export. So that is the option for the island. Everyone wants it, and it is a growing industry that you're in the right place. I think for the island, this is its natural resource. This is its opportunity.”

Will it result in cheaper prices?

With the power generation taking place on Guernsey's seabed, and exported to larger markets to make some much needed cash for the island, the question still remains on how it would impact prices locally.

Deputy Meerveld was asked if any potential development would lead to more money in the average persons pocket. 

“One way or another, I want to see Guernsey residents benefit to the maximum amount. So there's numerous ways that Guernsey residents might benefit. It might be by getting cheaper energy directly from the wind farm. It may be they're getting revenue in and then the States saying, 'Actually, we'll take part of that revenue and subsidise electricity costs'.

“It could be that we take the revenue from the wind farm and invest in the full upgrade of the electrical supply system in line with the electricity strategy, which would help reduce prices and increase resilience, etc. So the reason you do a project on this scale as a government is for the benefit of the local population.  One way or another, I believe we will reap great benefit from this.”