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4.15 Deputy T.M. Pitman of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding complaints received from residents in the Havre des Pas area about noise emanating from the La Collette power station:
Further to complaints received from residents in the Havre des Pas area about greatly increased noise, both day and night and 7 days a week emanating from the La Collette power station, will the Minister, as the shareholder representative, advise what is causing this, why it is happening and when the noise will reduce or hopefully cease?
Senator P.F.C. Ozouf (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):
As I think the Deputy will be aware, the first submarine cable between Jersey and France, which was installed in 1984, failed in June of 2012 and cannot be repaired. Since that time electricity has been supplied from the second cable between Jersey and France, which was installed in 2000, and that is supplemented by local generation at La Collette. The capacity of the remaining submarine cable is insufficient to meet the demand for electricity in Jersey, particularly in the winter months. Therefore, local generation at La Collette is vital to supplement local capacity and maintain supply. The requirement for local generation will reduce over the coming months as demand obviously falls within the summer period. Until the new submarine cable is installed between France and Jersey, which is estimated to be in late 2014 or early 2015, local generation will continue at La Collette. The J.E.C. (Jersey Electric Company) has advised that they would be more than happy to meet with the Deputy and investigate any questions that any of his constituents may have.
- Deputy T.M. Pitman:
I thank the Minister for that answer. I appreciate the explanation. However, can the Minister give any indication as to when? We cannot control the weather and obviously we are at February now and the people who are complaining, it is winter, their windows are closed and the noise is still there. What sort of reassurance can he give us of a timescale basically? Are we talking May? Are we talking April? When he does hope that things might improve, if that is possible?
Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :
I do try and do my very best to answer the Deputy 's and others' questions on the boards that the Treasury have shareholder responsibility, but I am not the managing director of the J.E.C. and I do not control whether or not La Collette is operational. The J.E.C. is very interactive with States Members. I think they have a good record in meeting Members to discuss particular concerns and they have expressed the offer to meet the Deputy to deal with individual concerns. Obviously on-Island generation is causing some difficulty in terms of noise in and around La Collette. That is unfortunate, but the offset of that is that we need continuing supply. We do not want to see power cuts and we need to see on-Island generation through the winter period. This is obviously going to abate in the summer. Investments in diesel plants and others have been made by the J.E.C. and I am sure that they will make their very best endeavours to reduce the amount of local generation, which is, of course, much more expensive than the importation of electricity from France. I encourage the Deputy to meet with the J.E.C. and any constituents.
- Deputy J.H. Young:
In the Minister's discussion as shareholder representative with the J.E.C. could he not only address the issues of noise, would he also address the issue of fumes which are emanating from what was intended to be a short-use emission chimney? Since it appears that this is going to be a longer term use of this plant, could he make sure that the fumes are dealt with and the present black smoke and so on that pours out is dealt with?
Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :
I will transmit those concerns to the J.E.C.
- The Connétable of St. John :
Can the Minister inform the House whether we have currently diesel generation or steam generation or both within the power station? Also, will he agree with me that the station was put in place in the mid-1960s and, therefore, it was anticipated then that there would be an awful lot of noise, hence its location away from where it was at Queens Road and the public and, therefore, there will be little, as long as we are producing our own electricity on-Island, that can be done?
The Deputy Bailiff :
Two questions are probably enough.
The Connétable of St. John :
Will he also see that additional insulation can be installed? Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :
I agree the plant is old and it is the backup generation and it is the backup generation that is ensuring that we have continuous supply in Jersey, and the J.E.C. will use their best endeavours in order to limit the use of it. However, we all complain when there is a shortage of supply and so there is always a trade-off and an issue, but I will transmit the Connétable s and others' views to the J.E.C. and I am sure that they will respond to Members.
The Connétable of St. John :
The Minister has not answered my question whether it is steam and/or diesel. Senator P.F.C. Ozouf :
It is both as I understand.
The Deputy Bailiff :
I hurried Members along because the Minister is due to have questions without notice, so questions can be brought then as well.