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NEARLY half the island’s deputies took a closer look at Guernsey Electricity’s operations when they visited the company this week.

A total of 21 States members had a tour of the power station and met with the management to discuss some of the issues it currently faces. They also received presentations outlining Guernsey Electricity’s progress since commercialisation, and on the prospects for developing tidal energy in local waters.

Managing director Ian Watson said he was very encouraged by the interest shown by the politicians.

‘We’re delighted that such a large number found the time to visit us, and by the interest that they showed in the company. The feedback that we got from them was very encouraging,’ he said.

An area that attracted a lot of interest was Guernsey Electricity’s investment in Marine Current Turbines, the UK company behind pioneering research into tidal power generation.

‘A lot of deputies were clearly very conscious of the issue of climate change, and the potential role that renewable energy might play in limiting its effects. There was strong support for the decision to invest in research into this area, through our equity stake in Marine Current Turbines, and we were very encouraged by that,’ said Mr Watson.

Although the results of the research to date was very encouraging, Mr Watson stressed that the prospect of generating power from local tidal flows was still some years away.

However the technology could in future make a valuable contribution to the island’s electricity requirements.

‘Obviously we are very keen to pursue this technology, so we hope the strong messages of support from deputies will lead to a positive direction in future States debates. For us it is not solely an issue of environmental concerns, but also ensuring that we can provide a secure and reliable source of electricity for the island into the future,’ he said.

‘In that respect renewable energy is not a replacement for the existing forms of generation, but hopefully something that in time will make a very real contribution toward meeting the island’s power needs. Greater diversity means greater security.’

However any new technology is likely to involve a premium on price, at least in the short term.

‘Initially unit costs of electricity will be high but hopefully with development the technology will be competitive with conventional sources,’ said Mr Watson.