Orsted speak on energy security over Isle of Man windfarm plans
Orsted speak on energy security over Isle of Man windfarm plans
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00:00If I could ask you Ben, what would a project like this mean for energy security in terms of the other man?
00:09Yeah, so energy security is becoming a massive issue and actually quite rightly that it is.
00:14If we look at, as you say, what happened in 2021 with the invasion of Ukraine,
00:20the impact that had on global energy prices, but it's not just that.
00:25We've also seen the impact of the Middle Eastern conflict.
00:28We've also seen the impact of shipping attacks in the Red Sea.
00:32So we know that the global security concerns around energy are absolutely valid.
00:39And many governments, the other man government, of course, but also the UK government, the US government,
00:43many governments around the world are looking to find more secure ways to generate that power,
00:49to have their national infrastructure, their homes, communities and industries powered in a way
00:54that isn't reliant on those global trading setups.
00:58So offshore wind, very scalable, very secure because it's within your own territory water.
01:05It's a really important element of delivering energy security.
01:08But John, perhaps you could just expand a bit more on the specifics for the other man.
01:13Yeah, I mean, all of those factors matter.
01:15It's at the end of the day, the other man does operate in the same geopolitical space
01:21because even if we use the interconnector to the UK,
01:24that's procuring electricity on a market price that has to be done
01:28and it means it's still got the exposure to that volatility.
01:31I just think that the slightly more local element is the control over those assets.
01:36So when we talk about giving our 100 megawatt link to Manx Utilities for them to use,
01:41they've got to do the work at the moment, working out where does that fit into the energy mix.
01:45So we're not saying that wind power is anything other than an intermittent source.
01:50The wind blows or it doesn't.
01:52And the reality is that Manx Utilities have got to think about designing a system
01:56that copes with resilience when it doesn't or storage when it doesn't and various other things.
02:01And they're doing a good job of that.
02:03I think what people need to keep in mind is that the existing plant we've got in the other man
02:07is going to come to the end of its life in the next 10 years.
02:09There's no getting away from what's happening at Pool Rose.
02:12It's a gas power station and it will need to be replaced with something.
02:16So we've got a chance now to make some decisions in the island about what that will look like.
02:21And I think the path which the island government is taking is very much reflecting what the UK government is taking.
02:26Have this mix. Use offshore wind as a backbone, if you like, to that mix
02:31and know that there's a good efficiency there.
02:33And get all the other things along the line in the next short while.
02:36But for me, energy security in the island is about providing your own and being in control of it
02:41and having the island's first offshore wind farm connected to the island,
02:44making a good bit of revenue when it's connecting the rest of the part of the UK,
02:48does give some control to the Isle of Man over how we keep the lights on in the future.
02:53I think earlier in the conversation you mentioned that, I think it was you Ben that mentioned
02:58the Isle of Man through this project could generate more energy than it needs.
03:03So does that mean essentially it's about the global factors affecting the energy market?
03:11If something like, for example, the Russia-Ukraine crisis happens again?
03:15I don't think it's possible to completely isolate yourself from global markets
03:20unless you are genuinely have no interconnection, no reliance on fuel.
03:26But also, you know, spare parts. We do live in a global world
03:30and so we're always going to be somewhat interconnected and reliant on what's going on around the world.
03:35But by having domestic generation on your doorstep,
03:38you absolutely are reducing your exposure to those global risks, no doubt about it.
03:43But I don't think you can isolate yourself completely from them.