States considers leasing seafloor for wind farm

The States could lease part of Guernsey's seafloor to a developer to build an offshore wind farm

Guernsey could lease part of its seafloor to a wind farm developer, the States has said.

Policy and Resources (P&R) said an offshore wind farm could be worth £1.3bn over 35 years, so it wanted to spend £1.3m over the next two years developing a framework to allow it to lease the seafloor and share profits.

P&R said its figures were based on leasing a 157 sq km (61 sq miles) site, with the potential to generate 1.27 gigawatts (GW).

Deputy Bob Murray, from the offshore wind sub-committee, said the proposal might not be "the answer to our financial challenges" as there were lots of assumptions, but initial research suggested there could be "substantial value in leasing a section of seabed".

P&R said: "A developer, not the States, would meet much of the significant future cost of developing an offshore wind farm."

Any revenue from a future windfarm would be shared between the developer and the States, it said, subject to "commercial negotiations".