Planning permission has been granted for the largest solar array in the Channel Islands.
Guernsey Electricity and Guernsey Post announced plans for the installation of the largest solar array in the Channel Islands in October.
The new solar array, which will be built on the roof of Guernsey Post’s Headquarters at Envoy House, La Vrangue, will be approximately 200kW in size and will produce around 200,000 kWh of electricity each year. This energy, which is the equivalent amount of energy required to power Guernsey Post’s entire fleet of electric vehicles, will be directed to the electricity grid for island-wide use.
Boley Smillie, Chief Executive of Guernsey Post said: “We are very excited to be part of such a significant project which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the environment and the local community.”
Alan Bates, Chief Executive at Guernsey Electricity, said this would be a milestone project, demonstrating how commercial businesses can make a meaningful contribution to generating renewable power on-island.
“We are proud to be involved with this project and look forward to moving on to the next phase in its evolution. As a company, we firmly believe that the distributed generation of electricity from renewable sources is a positive development that will enable the entire Island to benefit from locally generated low carbon energy. We hope the success of these projects will inspire more commercial scale solar array projects in the future,” said Mr Bates.
The proposed project follows a similar installation at Electricity House, Guernsey Electricity Ltd head office, which was completed in March 2018. The installation at the postal headquarters will be twice the size of the recently installed solar array at the power station and forms part of Guernsey Electricity’s plans to install distributed renewable energy generation systems on the network.
Greenhouse gas emissions are a global issue and it is vital that Guernsey is not only part of the debate but an active member of the wider community working to reduce emissions, says Mr Bates.
“As an island, Guernsey has committed to an 80% reduction of carbon emissions on 1990 levels by 2050 and the States of Guernsey continues to review its energy policy. Guernsey Electricity has already reduced its emissions by 66% on our 1990 levels, through the importation of up to 86% of our energy from low carbon sources, including hydroelectric, and the installation of the solar array at the Guernsey Electricity head office.Guernsey Electricity is keen to continue to work with interested parties, such as Guernsey Post, to look for further opportunities to install more distributed renewable energy generation systems around the Island to help Guernsey meet its wider greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets,” added Mr Bates.
Guernsey Electricity has aligned its greenhouse gas reporting with best practice guidelines and implemented an international standard Environmental Management System, which helps to drive continual improvement in environmental sustainability performance across the business.
Following a tender process it is hoped that the installation of the solar array at Guernsey Post will take place in the first half of 2019.
