23/11/15 - Consultants Appointed for Offshore Wind Work

Monday 23 November, 2015
Commerce and Employment’s (C&E) Renewable Energy Team (RET) and Guernsey Electricity Limited (GEL) have formally appointed Xodus Group Limited and Exeter University to undertake a number of workstreams (including: analysing imported electricity prices; understanding the best possible sites for a project; strategy for further resource analysis; further stakeholder engagement; potential project owners and more detailed understanding the project economics) investigating the feasibility work that they are jointly undertaking to research an offshore wind project for Guernsey electricity consumption in local waters.

This forms part of the work looking more closely at a 30MW offshore wind project for Guernsey only consumption. If this wind farm were built it would be likely to generate enough electricity to supply around 1/3rd of Guernsey’s current electricity requirements. 

This project builds upon previous work undertaken, including the RET sponsored PhD into public opinion on marine renewables (more information available at http://www.guernseyrenewableenergy.com/news/article.aspx?newsid=80). The public perception work was undertaken by Exeter University, and their consultancy arm has been appointed to build upon the previous research. As part of this work a stakeholder engagement workshop is being held at Beau Sejour on the 30th November to ensure that the public can be involved in the process throughout the project. 

Xodus Group Limited are a consultancy with a specific focus on offshore, environmental and renewable services. Xodus will be providing an experienced team with wide ranging experience that compliments the project.This joint project will builds upon earlier work and will help better understand the potential for offshore wind in Guernsey. 

The joint work is likely to be completed in 2016 and will be shared publically as well as informing continued debate on the future of energy supplies in Guernsey.It should also be noted that in exploring all renewable options RET have not discounted tidal or wave technologies, however currently neither tidal nor wave technologies are commercially available. As both technologies are still at a relatively nascent stage of development (no arrays are yet developed), offshore wind offers a potential near term option.