Direct cable link would offer security – Chamber
ENERGY insecurity created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made creating a direct electricity cable to France the island’s most important investment, Guernsey Chamber of Commerce has said.
Chamber executive team member Rupert Dorey said such a direct link would offer security, resilience and best economic return.
Crucially, he said it would also act as an enabler for on-island and offshore renewables – largely wind and solar – in the Bailiwick over the longer term. Currently, Guernsey has a sub-sea cable link to France via Jersey.
‘There are plenty of critics who suggest that the risks of political interference from both France and Jersey, who currently have pre-emptive rights over Guernsey’s electricity supply, is too great to bear,’ he said.
‘But we would counter that the alternatives are not without significant risks and expense too. We believe that a sound commercial supply contract transcends much of the political rhetoric. Clearly the events in Ukraine underscore that the implicit supply risks are in reality far greater than we had previously supposed, and that we are not immune from global events, much as we might like to be.’
Mr Dorey said spending the estimated £85m. cost of a new cable on renewable energy and associated storage would not come close to matching the island’s requirements, as well as requiring a huge amount of land. Fossil fuel generation currently costs twice as much as electricity through the cable link at current prices, without taking into account the environmental impact and financial risks of fuel supply lines, and the island’s climate change commitments.
Potential new technologies such as small modular reactors and hydrogen-sourced energy are a decade away from commercial application, Mr Dorey added.
Mr Dorey added that the dreadful events in Ukraine served to highlight that ‘we are not an island’ when it came to global events. He said Guernsey’s focus should be to mitigate and manage risks and pave the way for alternative sources of energy longer term, when more cost-effective technologies become available.
‘The best insurance policy we can buy now that paves the way for a more stable and less risky future is to invest in a new direct cable to France. This keeps our options wide open for a fraction of the cost of the alternatives. Not investing in a new direct cable to France is akin to trying to put a roof on a house before the walls are built.’
