‘Use less electricity to ease the strain on European grid’

The utility confirmed the move this week in a bid to import less from France, with CEO Alan Bates saying the move had been considered carefully.

‘We want to be a good neighbour and help Europe during this energy crisis, as many countries are starting to introduce stringent measures to restrict consumption,’ he said.

‘While we deploy the power station every winter during times of peak demand, there was a need for us to carefully consider the support we provide alongside the environmental impact of further utilising the diesel generators.’

Last year 93% of Guernsey power was imported, with that being generated by hydro and wind. That meant Guernsey’s emissions fell to just below 25,000 tCO2.

This compares with 140,000 tCO2 in 2019, when the sub-sea cable suffered faults and less than half of power was imported.

While Guernsey has been upgrading its diesel generators in recent years, some European countries have been turning to older coal-fired plants, as Russian gas supplies have dried up in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

States’ Trading Supervisory Board president Peter Roffey said Guernsey’s move would help Europe having to rely on older, more polluting plants, and should therefore reduce the overall environmental impact.

‘The thermal efficiency of our local generating plant and carbon intensity of the electricity we can produce on-island is likely to be better than some of the alternatives that Europe may otherwise have to rely upon,’ he said.

Mr Bates said the move was important to maintain energy security, but the environmental impact had been taken into account.

‘The generators that would be used to produce more electricity are the newer, more efficient units, which are deployed to top up supplies during the winter,’ he said.

‘Faced with shortages, several EU states, including France, have announced the extension or reopening of coal-fired power plants that were shut down in response to climate change issues.

‘Balancing the conflicting need for energy against decarbonisation targets means that the speed of the energy transition has been affected, which is why the majority of countries are also asking consumers to use less energy as part of the collaborative actions to address the shortages.’

STSB is fully supporting Guernsey Electricity’s move, although Deputy Roffey said it would make only a small difference.

‘We have an opportunity for Guernsey to play its part in responding to the effects of the current energy crisis and act as a good neighbour to its counterparts in France and Western Europe more widely,’ he said.

The move will mean that Guernsey Electricity will, if requested, generate more electricity using the Vale power station for local consumption and lower the energy imported through the sub-sea cable from the European grid.

The company has reassured local customers that it has sufficient supplies, equipment and staff to meet the island’s demands and no planned power cuts were expected due to capacity issues.