Chief Minister certain of renewable delivery before power station’s end of life

Last night (November 29) a public meeting about the proposed onshore windfarm at Earystane and Scard was held.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan and former Manx Utilities Chair, Tim Crookall MHK were on a panel, along with officers from the authority.

Energy FM spoke to the Chief Minister following an intense Q&A session:

The Chief reiterated that the Isle of Man Government can get a renewable energy onto its system, keeping in mind a ten year time line before the power station gets “switched off”.

He added: “We’re likely to have a multi layered future in front of us, with a number of potential renewable sources supplying our future needs.”

The Chief said that “there is a long way to go” with this particular onshore project that’s being looked at, but he hasn’t ruled out the involvement of private sector projects stating “beyond that obviously start to capitalise on some of the other projects, private sector projects” that are being put in-front of Government at the moment.

During the Q&A it was brought up that the Chief Minister stated in his 2011 Manifesto that he was to “Vote against onshore wind farms but actively engage with relevant parties to explore offshore energy opportunities”.

He explained to Charlie Morrey that the reason for his U-turn is because “the whole agenda has moved so considerably since 2011”.

Noting that his view has “shifted over the last decade”, he said that renewable energy delivers “a number of economic benefits to the island” and offers the Island “energy security”.