GUERNSEY Electricity has backed moves to develop tidal power locally if the States agrees next week to the establishment of a renewable energy commission.

Engineering director Steve Morris (pictured) said the company had been at the forefront of this technology in recent years and was well placed to develop tidal power in local waters.

Provided the technology proves viable and the regulatory, financial and legal framework is established, tidal turbines could be seen within five years.

This could provide not only a clean source of renewable energy for the island, but potentially would enable electricity to be exported to Europe.

‘Renewable energy is the island’s only significant source of energy that can be locally produced and controlled,’ he said.

‘As such it will come to have a more important part to play in helping provide us with energy security when supplies of fossil fuel become scarcer in years to come.

‘Its development, however, will require the States to establish how to support it financially, since initially it will be more expensive than fossil fuel.’

In 2003, Guernsey Electricity bought a minority stake in UK-based Marine Current Turbines, which has developed the world’s first commercial scale tidal power generator.

Its SeaGen device, which is currently installed in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, is capable of producing enough electricity for around 1,000 homes.