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Alderney is an island that relies entirely on imported diesel for generating power. And while the island’s grid has undergone significant development in recent years, the island still relies on eight generators to produce fairly expensive and ‘dirty’ electricity.
This is all set to change however, with a commitment from the island’s energy provider to push forward with big plans for renewables.
Wind, solar, tidal... it’s all on the table, but how close are we?
In 2022 the States of Alderney published one of its Island Plans, a document outlining the various workstreams being prioritised. One of those priorities was the development of renewable energy and a definitive energy policy.
The States subsequently commissioned two external reports from ORE Catapult Development Services Ltd - a subsidiary of the Catapult consortium of developers and academics in offshore renewable energy - who modelled a hybrid mix of renewable energy sources for the island.
These reports fed into a series of energy policies which were adopted by the States of Alderney more than a year ago. These policies directed government workstreams on sustainability, resilience, clean energy, affordability, opportunities and tidal and wave energy.
The bulk of the work required to get these policies off the ground falls to Alderney Electricity Limited (AEL), the company operating and maintaining the island’s generators and grid.
“What has already happened is AEL committing to deliver what they call ‘3x3' which is 30% renewable energy in three years,” said Bill Abel, States member and Lead for the Energy Working Group.
“And in the same period of time AEL will look at what is the viability of increasing the scope of renewables in conjunction with diesel generation storage... the more straightforward of those being wind and solar.”
Mr Abel said moves are consistently being made to explore various types of renewable energy sources, and we'll learn more about that later. But first, he suggests that the island’s tariff system needs to be restructured.
“More people would install renewables themselves but at the moment some of the tariff structure needs reorganising so everyone has an equitable share in the value of the introduction of renewables,” he said.
“The tariff [at the moment] isn’t quite set up to allow a feed in tariff from people who install renewables themselves, and that is something that AEL is reviewing alongside the States.
“The area that still needs to be taken forward is to try and get the tariffs reformed – and hopefully we can get that in place in 2024.
“The public will need to be consulted on the tariff reform because it isn’t a simple system like it is in Guernsey.”
Pictured: “Electricity here is expensive,” said Mr Abel, “compared to the UK... and it’s certainly about twice the price as Guernsey electricity.”
AEL is responsible for that tariff restructuring and has also been leading the development and maintenance of the island’s electricity grid. Great strides have been made since 2016, when the company began modernising the network.
I reached out to AEL during my time in Alderney to see if the firm’s Managing Director James Lancaster – who doesn’t actually live full time in Alderney - would be available to discuss the future of renewables. And while he was on island during my trip over, I was told he wasn’t available for interview.
The power station is now automated and a modernised grid opens the island up to the possibility of introducing renewable power sources. It now has the capability of switching between power sources “according to variable input”.
While work is still ongoing to automate substations and introduce smart meters, the company should be more than capable of incorporating new sources of energy by 2026.
And the two main options are wind and solar...
In November 2023 AEL proposed the development of three wind onshore wind turbines at Fort Albert. It also proposed a 2,000 panel solar array as part of a multi-million-pound project that would see serious steps taken on the path to 30% renewables.
It was estimated that the cost of a unit of electricity could be reduced from 25p to 10p by utilising solar.
AEL said that it had undertaken “in-depth studies” into 15 possible sites for solar energy panels and have presented its findings to the Policy and Finance Committee which would discuss the options in December 2023.
A preferred site for panels was a piece of land at La Corvee, to the east of the airport.
The Chair of P&F, Nigel Vooght, said at the time that the proposals were exciting, but “may be contentious” as the wind turbines could be up to 58metres high.
“It is important before any decision to proceed that the community understands the full implications of what is being asked, therefore we have worked up a detailed proposal for them to examine,” Mr Lancaster added during the announcement of the proposals.
Mr Vooght said a public consultation would be held before any planning applications are submitted.
The proposals were revealed on 15 November 2023 and there hasn’t been a consultation so far. AEL said a date hasn’t been decided for one yet.
The States of Alderney have also invited energy companies to submit proposals on how to develop tidal power.
In June 2023 an invitation was sent out by the island’s Energy Working Group for energy providers to submit proposals on “how they would harness a limited amount of Alderney’s tidal energy resource”.
The Alderney Race (the Swinge) is well known for hosting incredibly strong tidal currents. It runs between Alderney and Cap de la Hague and is called Raz Blanchard by the French. For years it has been considered as the perfect spot for tidal energy generation.
"We have the potential to produce renewable energy from solar, wind, tidal and wave resources and now, in addition to advancing solar and wind generation options, we are opening up the possibilities offered by our extensive tidal resources,” said Mr Abel.
"Recognising our past experiences related to our tidal resources, this process is being managed by the Policy & Finance Committee's Energy Working Group, and we are committed to keeping the community informed."
It’s understood that a few expressions of interest have since been received.
Meanwhile, on the French side of the Alderney race a multi-million-pound French tidal farm continues to develop at pace.
€65million has been committed by the French government to build a farm in Raz Blanchard and it's hoped that, if successful, the infrastructure could spill over and benefit Alderney too.
Proactive work on pursuing renewables isn’t just something Alderney is looking at, it’s a topic generating a lot of political noise across the Channel Islands.
While Guernsey continues to pursue plans for a potential offshore windfarm development, and rumblings persist that Guernsey and Jersey could undertake some kind of joint initiative to invest in wind power, Alderney says it remains part of the conversation.
“We’ve obviously been talking to Guernsey in particular,” said Mr Abel, “about what potential connections we could have between the islands.”
“The biggest difficulty for us is that a connecting cable is about £200million and because we only use 1MW a year, it would be a big expense for the island.
“So, we are pursuing on island renewable energy generation and continue to speak [to Jersey] about their plans for wind farms - renewables is a future for us and indeed for the Channel Islands as a whole.”
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