RETs Concluded Consultations

The Renewable Energy (Guernsey) Ordinance 2015

The States of Guernsey prepared draft secondary legislation (an Ordinance) for public consultation under the Renewable Energy (Guernsey) Law, 2010 (the Law).

The aim of the Ordinance was to enable effective development of offshore renewables (such as offshore wind, tidal and wave energy) in Guernsey at the appropriate time and to provide robust environmental protection while still keeping the process of licensing offshore renewable energy systems as straight forward and streamlined as possible, given the potential complexity of the industry. The Ordinance also aims to ensure that, in the licensing process, account is taken of the potential effects of offshore renewables on navigation, fisheries and other uses of the sea, and that Guernsey meets its obligations under any international agreements relating to the sea.

The purpose of this consultation was to gather views from local and other stakeholders as well as potential developers and interested parties on whether they consider that the Ordinance fulfils these aims. As such the consultation was a full public consultation and, while there was a distribution list to certain key parties, efforts were made to ensure that all views were considered.

In Part II, the Ordinance set out the requirements for licensing of all renewable energy activities in the marine environment in relation to renewable energy systems with a rated maximum output above 20kW (as outlined in the Law).

The consultation lasted from the release date of 23rd October 2014 until the 20th January 2015.

A consultation report was published following the conclusion of the consultation period.

Regional Environmental Assessment

The former Shadow Guernsey Renewable Energy Commission (now RET) has produced 2 key documents in preparation for the potential development of marine renewable energy in Bailiwick waters. These are the Regional Environmental Assessment of Marine Energy, and the Regional Environmental Assessment Scoping Report. The Scoping Report is the initial stage of the REA, outlining what is to be covered in the REA and why, while the REA is a desk based study looking at the environmental impacts of Marine Energy. 

To date we have undertaken the following 6 week public consultations:

  • Scoping Report for the Regional Environmental Assessment (REA)
    ›The document is still available for viewing; DOWNLOAD THE REA SCOPING DOCUMENT.

  • Regional Environmental Assessment (REA) of Marine Energy
    ›The document is still available for viewing; DOWNLOAD THE REA OF MARINE ENERGY.

Although these consultations have now come to an end, RET would still like to hear your views on the documents and any feedback you may have for us. We would also like to hear from you if you have any views on how we can better communicate the work being undertaken on island by the RET.

We understand that the introduction of Renewable Energy to Guernsey is a major undertaking and that many will wish to express their ideas and concerns to us, and to seek further information regarding the work of the Team. With this in mind, we will be arranging further consultation activities and media releases relating to specific issues in future. Until then, please see the News page and the Frequently Asked Questions page. Further to this, please feel free to write to us or send an email as shown on the Contact Us page.