Selling surplus electric from local wind farm is an option

It has been in the island to talk to States members and civil servants and was brought over by the Offshore Wind Opportunities Task and Finish Group, which includes Deputies Carl Meerveld, David De Lisle and Chris Blin.

The meeting took place as Environment & Infrastructure put the finishing touches to its long-awaited Electricity Strategy, which is now due to be published next week.

The group was set up last year when 15 deputies decided that it was time to investigate renewable energy more seriously and did not want to continue waiting for action. From that meeting three groups emerged, one to investigate solar, one tidal and the other, wind power.

‘Our emphasis is on clean energy and renewables,’ said Deputy De Lisle, who was one of the instigators of the original meeting.

‘And the energy policy, of course will be somewhat broader than that.’

A scoping report identified the possibility of an offshore wind farm capable of generating up to 25 times as much electricity as the island needs, said group chairman Deputy Meerveld.

‘It could generate revenue from a seabed lease and share in the electricity revenue for Guernsey and I think this is a perfect example of how P&R are actively exploring ways to generate additional revenue for Guernsey,’ he said.

‘Equinor helped to provide information for the drafting of the initial scoping. It was logical that when we were ready for the next step that Equinor would be the company we would approach to come talk to us directly.’

The company has been involved in floating and seabed-attached wind farms in Norway and Scotland and its latest, at Dogger Bank, is about to go online.

This group of three offshore wind farms each produces 1.2 gigawatts of power and something like that could work locally, said Halfdan Brustad, the company’s vice-president of UK renewables.

‘Scale is the most important thing to get the cost down to an affordable level,’ he said.

‘We have shared ideas and we have been given the opportunity to explore the options here. We will look further into it. This is a complex matter so we also need some experts to have a look to see what is needed.’

During the company’s visit its representatives spoke to Policy & Finance Committee president Deputy Peter Ferbrache, who commended the deputies for bringing the company to the island.

‘It’s giving serious consideration to what we should do going forward, and I appreciate Equinor coming,’ he said.

‘They’re giving us their wisdom. We’re not saying we’re going to follow that provider, but we listen to what they’ve got to say.’