Installation of a new land cable by the Jersey Electricity Company
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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES BY DEPUTY G.C.L. BAUDAINS OF ST. CLEMENT
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 10th SEPTEMBER 2013
Question
Given that the JEC laid a new cable from the east of the Island as part of the French link just a decade or so ago and such cables are not only less liable to damage than their under-sea counterparts but also have an expected lifespan of fifty or more years, how does the Minister, as the share holder representative, justify the disruption and expense involved in the laying of a new land cable?
Does the present cable have insufficient capacity and, if so, was this a lack of judgement by the JEC?
Would the Minister further advise of the cost of the new cable and whether the laying includes any telecommunication element and, if so, give assurances that electricity customers will not be subsidising that element?
Answer
The new cable is being laid to provide considerably improved resilience and diversity to the operation and fault management of the overall network.
The present cable does has sufficient capacity, but the new cable is being laid to increase resilience and is required to connect the new submarine cable between Jersey and France, which is now even more essential following the permanent failure in 2012 of the original submarine cable installed in 1984. This new cable has been in planning for eight years and is part of a long- term strategy and network design.
The cost of the new land cable is about £5 million which forms part of the overall £70 million submarine cable project.
The circuit does contain a telecom cable, which is required for the control and management of the power cable and its connecting network. Customers are not providing a subsidy element towards the telecoms cable in this project.