91Èȱ¬

A decision on whether a wind farm will be built off Jersey's coast will be made within a year, the island's environment minister says.

Deputy Jonathan Renouf said private companies and investors had approached the government about the idea.

Mr Renouf said the potential location of the farm would be determined in a forthcoming plan of how different areas of Jersey's waters might be used.

The project would take eight to 10 years to finalise and build, he said.

He said: "We would want to move at pace, [but] there's still a lot of stakeholders to talk to about this, still a lot of arrangements to make.

"We're moving towards that very quickly, certainly within the next year."

Mr Renouf said officials would ask islanders and the governments of Guernsey and France for their views on the plans.

"It feels like this is a moment to really investigate what Jersey could do in the offshore wind area, because it is a potential big economic opportunity for the island as well as dealing with things like energy sovereignty and security of supply," he said.

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