THE latest issue of the Sark Newsletter is critical of a Chief Pleas proposal to grant a two-year understanding with Ocean Electric Power to investigate the potential for tidal power in the island’s waters because it believes that the first step should be to secure a 12-mile limit and guaranteed access to the seabed.

It also questions why Ocean Electric, a deal-making middle man, should be the favoured partner.

While these may be valid questions for Sark, they also highlight a much wider issue – the approach of the Bailiwick as a whole to the future harvesting of a theoretically enormous power source. According to some estimates, the Bailiwick could ultimately generate as much electrical energy as 25 nuclear power plants and, with the UK, shares about 50% of Europe’s entire tidal stream resource.

If correct, that represents a tremendous asset and, even if a fraction of it can be successfully tapped, an enormous, sustainable income for whoever controls it.

That, of course, is the point made by the Sark Newsletter.

For while this is a Bailiwick opportunity, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark are all pursuing different approaches, which means duplicated effort and wasted money. Taken at face value, it is as though each island is keen to go it alone in the hope of being first to hit the jackpot, but that seems a narrow approach.

There is no consensus on what is the right turbine technology and no significant experience of maintaining generating plant submerged in some of the most hostile environments with sometimes only 20 minutes’ slack water between tides.

There is another reason for wishing to see a joined-up Bailiwick approach to this, albeit one that reflects the independence of each island, and that is the sheer potential value of the resource.

Peak oil, the point at which maximum production occurs and terminal decline begins, is probably upon us, signalling a growing energy gap between demand and supply.

Those with access to unlimited renewable sources will become the new Opec, with similar security issues.

The Bailiwick needs to get ownership and control issues firmly resolved well before any significant value starts emerging from its tide streams.