Electricity Strategy – Now is the time to vote “Pour”

Photo above – Bob Beebe, CEO at The Little Green Energy Company.

The Little Green Energy Company (LGE) supports the Environment and Infrastructure Department’s (E&I) proposed Electricity Strategy. The company has been working with E&I through the Energy Partnership on the Energy Policy and now the Electricity Strategy for almost five years, and now the electricity strategy itself is imminently to be debated upon by the States of Deliberation on Wednesday 5^th July. LGE supports the proposed pathway D, where a combination of on island solar PV, offshore wind, and a second European interconnector is proposed, to take us safely and securely to net zero by 2050. Bob Beebe – CEO of The Little Green Energy Company says “There is now a last minute sursis to attempt to delay the States debate until September by further “kicking the can down the road”. There couldn’t be a more important time than now to seriously focus on what is best for our precious island and its energy future after five years of hard work. The balance of energy sources proposed and studied by Siemens and supported by the Energy Partnership as part of the strategy work could not be more appropriate” he said. “Any idea that 100% solar PV deployment will work for Guernsey or just one interconnector is acceptable or keeping the old power station going for longer is simply not feasible. There are a host of technical constraints and scenarios to be considered for example, short-term solar radiation variations where the effects of cloud transients or jet aircraft vapour trails, can cause network instability where there is loss of sunlight. Or imagine two inches of snow on everyone’s rooftops and solar PV systems and no wind and additionally, if the islands electricity load, which as predicted in the Siemens report, could be circa 150MW in future then we simply would not cope.

This is why a diverse mix of renewable energy sources alongside an additional European interconnector (providing N-1 security and low carbon electricity) and in the energy production proportions recommended by Siemens, with back up thermal energy sources are required for our energy supply future.

Electricity supply resilience and greater energy independence is critical for our future, where the islands exposure to geopolitical risk and wholesale fuel cost volatility are reduced significantly and where we are in charge of our own generation sources and future import/export options.

 Any electricity grid system requires electricity generation to match consumption on a second-by-second basis, and ours is no different. The future electricity system and its components of generation and supply systems have to meet this fundamental stability requirement and we are all connected to it.

“The policy letter sets out the reasons why we need to decide the way forward with pathway D. The electricity strategy has been a very large piece of work for all concerned and now is the time for political will to proceed with the recommended direction.

In future, we will see deployment of larger battery energy storage systems to complement our domestic Tesla battery systems that we already deploy, to maximise the value of grid connected renewable generation systems and in the next twenty years we could see commercially viable tidal and marine turbine systems being deployed locally. The proposed electricity strategy policy letter keeps all of these options open as new technology becomes available. All of these options could lead us to being a “jewel in the crown” of energy conscious jurisdictions around the world, where people wish to live, work and thrive, in an island where sustainability and the environment comes first with renewable and low carbon energy systems and electrification of our transportation systems being the norm.

Mr Beebe is calling for political unity and support on the electricity strategy at the important States Meeting on the 5^th July where the strategy will be debated. “We have to prove our resolve now and strive forward in becoming a jurisdiction dedicated to decarbonising our day to day activities and to live in an island where our children and their children will look back and say that we did the right thing for our energy and islands future”.

“I sincerely urge the States of Deliberation to vote for the policy letter and pathway D direction and support the work of E&I in protecting our future local island environment, and providing clear private investment direction for local energy companies and at the same time giving islanders and the wider business community the incentive to join in yet further in decarbonising our islands energy and transportation systems and protecting our environment”.