News

A GUERNSEY Electricity-backed project that could one day see energy being generated from the seas around the island is receiving national attention.

This weekend’s Independent on Sunday carried a front page story and a double page spread on the project, which will see the first commercial scale tidal power turbine installed in Northern Ireland.

And the newspaper’s leader article heralded the development as ‘A watershed for clean energy’.

Guernsey Electricity is a minority shareholder in Marine Current Turbines (MCT), the UK company that is installing the giant tidal power generator in the waters of Strangford Lough, south of Belfast. Known as SeaGen, it is the largest device of its type ever produced, and is capable of generating up to 1.2 Megawatts of electricity from the movement of the tide.

Guernsey Electricity believes the technology represents the most viable source of local renewable energy. The island’s waters have also been identified as having similar tidal characteristics.

Managing director Ian Watson said: ‘The possibilities for wind power in Guernsey are limited, simply because we don’t have the space available to deploy this technology on any large scale. However where tidal stream generation is concerned, the waters around us are some of the best in the world.

‘We believe tidal generation represents by far the most suitable source of renewable energy for Guernsey. The prospect of the island being able to generate clean, renewable electricity is very real, and with each new development that possibility is now a good deal closer.’

A specialist barge that will perform the installation is currently on its way from Norway to Ireland, and is expected to arrive at the end of this week. It is expected to begin positioning the turbine in the water early next week.

The work was originally scheduled to begin last weekend, but the barge’s arrival was delayed due to bad weather.

MCT also recently announced a joint project with UK electricity giant npower to build a tidal farm capable of producing clean, renewable energy for about 10,000 UK homes off the island of Anglesey in Wales.

The location chosen, known as the Skerries, is believed to be one of the prime locations in UK waters for such a project, due to its favourable tidal conditions. Guernsey has also previously been identified as having similar potential.

The Anglesey project is likely to be one of the first commercial projects of its type in the world, and could be in operation as early as 2011.