By Alex Herschel, Chief Sustainability Officer, Island Energy Group

The energy landscape is changing at an unprecedented pace as countries of all sizes seek sustainable ways to fuel their futures.

 

In smaller communities, the need to find renewable, reliable energy solutions is even more pronounced as they cannot leverage the economies of scale available to larger regions.

The next 10 years is poised to be a pivotal period; electricity networks that service smaller communities are at maximum load capacity leading to delays to housing development and planning approvals, and ultimately impacting the economy.

Electricity tariffs are increasing to cover the costs of network upgrades, interconnectors and windfarms, on top of increasing generation costs and global fuel fluctuations.

Islands like Guernsey, where Guernsey Energy manages the gas distribution network, is certainly not immune to these challenges and opportunities. At Guernsey Energy, we are excited to play our part and we are working hard to bring new products, such as renewable gas, and energy performance products and services to the island as we recognise that choice for customers is critical to ensure a fair and affordable journey to Net Zero by 2050.

What does the future holds for gas?

The future is bright. Just by ‘changing the gas’ to renewable gas, we can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our gas by up to 90%, without needing to carry out costly changes to our network or customers appliances.

The good news is that renewable gases, such as BioLPG, is available to import now, and we are currently working on a renewable gas trial, which will signal the start of the next phase of our energy transition.

Our ideal scenario is to also find ways to produce a commercial supply of renewable gas on-island that could showcase a circular economy solution for Guernsey; ideally combining waste, regenerative farming, local environmental protection and biodiversity enhancement to create a resilient energy system that is good for business, people and the environment.

Partnerships to ensure innovation and energy security

We are working with the wider liquid gas sector in the UK, and internationally, so that we can benefit from the £250M by 2025 that the UK is investing in renewable gas innovation.

We also want to reach out to local organisations who produce organic waste and feedstock or are involved in waste to energy plants to explore opportunities to work together to produce renewable gas on island.

Working as an island community, we can explore new energy sources and partnerships and in doing so spread the word, and our passion and commitment, to finding innovative ways to power our island for future generations while keeping customer needs and the environment at the heart of everything we do.

If you want to know more please contact alex.herschel@i-e-g.com or visit Guernsey Energy