A WIND farm off the French coast that is visible from Jersey has become fully operational, six weeks after Island politicians voted to “pursue the opportunities” for a similar project.
After a three-year construction project to build the St Brieuc wind farm, developer Iberdrola confirmed that the 496 megawatt facility, which has 62 turbines and will generate 9% of the electricity consumption of Brittany, had been completed and handed over to French public utility company RTE.
The completion of the project, which at its nearest point is just over 20 miles from Corbière Lighthouse, came just over a month after States Members voted overwhelmingly to support a ministerial proposition to explore the potential for a Jersey wind farm.
Work is now taking place to consider the detail of the project, which could be 1,000 megawatt and generate surplus power that could be sold to other jurisdictions, with further plans due to be brought back to the States Assembly before the end of the year.
The tender for the St Brieuc wind farm was awarded to Ailes Marine, a company owned by Spanish power giant Iberdrola, in 2012.
Three other projects were also part of the first phase of the French government’s move to offshore wind. One facility, at St Nazaire off the Atlantic coast, was completed towards the end of 2023 while the others, off the Normandy coast to the east of Cherbourg, are also close to completion.
A total of 2.4 billion euros was invested in the St Brieuc project, which is the fourth to be completed by Iberdrola after it built two off the English coast and installed a German wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The company has three other projects under construction in Germany, the UK and US.
