His Excellency of Jersey, Vice Admiral Jeremy Kyd, was welcomed to Jersey Electricity on a tour of La Collette Power Station.
During the tour, the Lieutenant Governor had the opportunity to start up one of Jersey Electricity’s (JE) five 11MW Sulzer Diesel Generators which are maintained for emergency backup supplies, and visited the Powerhouse retail and administrative headquarters on 24 January.
Accompanied by his Chief of Staff Major Justin Oldridge, Sir Jeremy was greeted by JE’s Chairman Phil Austin, CEO Chris Ambler and Operations Director Mark Preece where he was shown around the Control Room and viewed the Generator Hall at La Collette. A team of JE’s specialist engineers showed Sir Jeremy how they manage the Island’s sophisticated distribution network and control the low-carbon imported electricity from France.
His Excellency then travelled to the Powerhouse on Queens Road where he viewed the Island’s first Ultra-Rapid charger, which was installed in 2022. JE’s Director of Commercial Services Mr Peter Cadiou then showed Sir Jeremy around the low-carbon heating solutions in the Smarter Living area of the retail store, while Head of Retail Gavin Murphy introduced him to the wider retail offering, including a range of electrically powered bikes and scooters.
Sir Jeremy was then joined by other directors for lunch and a presentation about JE’s long term energy strategy.
Lieutenant Governor, Sir Jeremy Kyd, said: ‘‘It was a pleasure to visit Jersey Electricity. The whole team, from the watchkeepers in the La Collette Generator control room, to JE’s Headquarters were extremely welcoming and clearly passionate about their company and their critical role in providing reliable power to Islanders. Their service delivery to customers is their primary focus but I was also struck by their exciting vision for the future and supporting the Government’s drive to tackle climate change and the journey to net zero.”
JE Chairman Phil Austin said: “It was a great honour to welcome His Excellency to JE’s premises to meet with employees and view the complex electricity importation, generation and distribution network we manage on behalf of Islanders. The visit was a meaningful opportunity to highlight to Sir Jeremy the significant work that goes into supplying the Island with clean, decarbonised and reliable electricity and the strategic role JE will play in helping to deliver the Government of Jersey’s net zero commitments.”
