Wind farm could boost annual economy by £250m

The government say the wind farm should be privately funded and designed

An offshore wind farm could provide the island’s economy with an annual boost of about £250m once operational, analysis by Jersey’s government has claimed.

But the report emphasised “further in-depth feasibility and appraisal work would be needed as part of building a full business case”.

Ministers have put forward proposals for a 1,000 MW wind farm off Jersey’s south-west coast to meet islanders’ energy needs and create electricity for export.

They said it should be privately funded and designed, and that it could be operational in the early 2030s.

The analysis was written by civil servants in the Department of the Economy in June 2023, but was published this month.

It said a wind farm of the size proposed could take up about 9% of the island’s marine area and produce 3,796 GWh of electricity per year - about six times Jersey’s electricity consumption in 2021.

The figures are based on a “conservative” price per unit of 6p/kWh, and an assumption that 125 wind turbines, each with a maximum capacity of 8MW, would be built.

“This is an initial model estimate and would need to be further developed as part of any further business case development,” the report said.

During the construction phase, if less than 10% of costs are spent in Jersey:

• 913 jobs could be created in Jersey

• 12,510 jobs could be created off-island “through supply chain spending”

• The project could boost Jersey’s economy by £60m a year - Gross Value Added (GVA)

Once a wind farm is operational, if 100% of costs are spent in Jersey, up to 113 direct jobs and 56 “indirect or induced” jobs could be created in Jersey.

The boost to the economy is anticipated to be about £250m a year (GVA), estimated as the annual cost of operations and maintenance, training staff, onshore and offshore logistics, and turbine spare parts

It said: “Alternatively, there could be significant off island spending, such as if operations and maintenance jobs were based in a French port rather than Jersey.”

A 1,000 MW project “would generate annual tax liability of approximately £42m”.

Deputy Jonathan Renouf said an offshore wind farm would "deliver multiple benefits for Jersey"

In a blog, entitled Debating the merits of offshore wind, Environment Minister Deputy Jonathan Renouf said developing offshore wind was "not an either/or choice".

He said: “We are not doing this instead of other energy or environmental projects – Jersey will continue to rely on some electricity from France and we’ll continue to explore other low carbon energy alternatives such as tidal and solar.

“But at the moment, we believe that a large-scale offshore wind project can attract inward investment and it would deliver multiple benefits for Jersey.

“If we can’t attract inward investment – say because a wind farm in our waters is not economically viable – the project will not move forward.”

The publication of the economic analysis comes as islanders are being asked to share their views on the proposals by 16 February 2024.

A series of public meetings and question and answer sessions are also due to be held before Christmas.

States Members are then due to debate ministers’ plans in March.