New cremators are working

The cremation facilities went live earlier this year, after closing in August 2019 so the 20-year-old crematorium equipment could be replaced and the chapel and grounds upgraded.

States Property Unit director of estates Mark Ogier said the cremators and abatement system were fully operational.

The main building works were also complete, with the chapel expected to open in the autumn, once some finishing works have been completed.

But there are issues with the gas supply.

‘The new pipework within the cemetery has been sized to provide sufficient gas for both cremators to operate simultaneously if ever required, however at the current time the size of the gas main in the roads approaching the cemetery is not of a sufficient size to allow this,’ he said.

‘Guernsey Gas [now Guernsey Energy] intends to replace the gas main with a larger capacity system as part of their future planning.’

‘ When the new site was designed, as is typical of any project such as this, a review was carried out by the company to establish its energy supply needs,’ said Guernsey Energy managing director Alex Herschel.

‘While it was the case that to run both new cremators at the same time would require capital expenditure to upgrade the supply network to the site, it is our understanding that it was the intention of the States of Guernsey that there would not be a need to operate both simultaneously when the site was operating normally, and therefore the upgrade to the network was not progressed.

‘We have an ongoing programme of network improvements, however we currently do not have specific plans to upgrade the supply in that area.

‘Under such circumstances we engage with our commercial customers to identify a solution which can meet their energy supply needs.’

Mr Ogier said it had never been intended to operate both cremators simultaneously routinely, as the number of cremations annually was such that one cremator was sufficient.

‘The installation of a second cremator is for resilience purposes only and is common practice in remote locations, such as islands,’ he said.

‘It allows one cremator to be removed from service for routine maintenance or remedial repairs without affecting the ability of the cremation service to operate.’

In the policy letter for the project it was noted that due to the cremators having to operate from cold to up to 1,000 degrees Celsius on a regular basis, breakdowns associated with these thermal stresses were inevitable and unavoidable, which was why two units were vital.