Channel Island Electricity Grid
PO Box 45, The Powerhouse, Queens Road, St Helier, JE4 8NY
www.jec.co.uk/About
Channel Islands Electricity Grid (CIEG) is the joint venture company set up in 1998 between Jersey Electricity and Guernsey Electricity to manage the business opportunities presented by the submarine cable interconnectors to Europe and between the Islands. The CIEG manages the bulk electricity supply contract from Europe and seeks to improve network reliability and optimise generation by encouraging greater co-operation between the two owning companies.
Until June 2012 two 90,000-Volt submarine cables supplied power from France to Jersey and on to Guernsey. The first cable was installed in 1984, was fluid filled for insulation and was capable of supplying up to 55MW of power. It came to the end of its useful life mid-2012. The second cable uses XLPE plastic for insulation and was commissioned in 2000, it can provide the islands with up to 90MW of power from Europe.
The supply originates in France at La Haye du Puits and comes ashore in Jersey at Archirondel. From Archirondel two underground cables distribute energy in bulk to island. The first cable supplies La Collette, via a major sub-station at South Hill which, en-route, also services a large substation at Rue des Pres. The second cable goes direct to a large substation at the top of Queen's Road (St Helier). The cable to Guernsey starts from Queen's Road and connects to a submarine cable at Greve de Lecq.
By 2010-11 the CIEG supplied some 95% (over 650,000MWh) of Jersey's annual electricity power requirements and met the full island load for almost nine months of the year. The demise of the first cable will temporarily reduce this capacity during
2012-14. However, a ten-year £60 million project to install a third interconnector will restore imports to their previous levels and increase capacity to meet future demand.Categories: Electrical Supplies.
