New turbine for power station

The turbine will boost the station's capacity to provide power

Guernsey's power station is to get a new turbine to generate more electricity.

The £3.4m investment will boost the station's capacity to provide power for the island should the cable link to France fail.

The island's power station has to have a high enough capacity to cater for everyone in the event of a cable fault and, following the decommission of the old diesel engines, it is now necessary to purchase the new turbine.

The new equipment will generate about 15% of the island's peak demand for power.

The turbine will not often be in use as around 80% of the island's power was generated offshore last year.

It will also make sure the station can start up more quickly if the cable link fails.

The managing director of Guernsey Electricity, Ian Watson, says it is impossible to give a cast-iron guarantee of a continuous supply, especially on a small island, but he said the new equipment will help keep interruptions as short as possible.