You might think, “what do you mean we are not making the most of the cable?”
For nearly all the night and a lot of the day, we benefit from renewably sourced imported electricity, which comes through the subsea cable. But electricity demand varies, and just as there are times when the cable can’t supply enough electricity to meet Guernsey’s demand, there are also times when we do not need the full amount of electricity that we could import through the cable, such as overnight (when less electricity is used).
Since 2000, Guernsey has benefitted from interconnectors, which import energy from Europe, via Jersey. This reduces our environmental impact, increases the security of our energy supplies, and improves the stability of our power system. Before this, we used to rely on our fossil-fuelled power station for ALL our electricity.
This ‘interconnection’ has brought many advantages to the Islands, but the single link to Guernsey has its limitations.