Jersey Dairy and Jersey Electricity partner in solar power project

Jersey Dairy and Jersey Electricity are excited to announce that they have sealed a partnership to generate another half a million units a year of local solar power. The Royal Court has granted a 25-year lease for JE to install and operate what will become the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) array in the Channel Islands on the Dairy’s roof! 

Jersey Dairy MD Eamon Fenlon said: ‘Jersey Dairy and our dairy farmers are committed to adopting good environmental practices and this project fits with that commitment and the many other positive environmental initiatives that the dairy industry is actively implementing.’

With the lease agreement in place, work on the 2,500 square metres array is expected to start in October. Local solar contractors SunWorks will project manage, install and commission the array. Once operational in November, the 521kWp installation is expected to generate more than half a million units a year. That’s enough to power almost 70 Jersey homes using an average of 7,300 units a year!

JE CEO Chris Ambler said: ‘We are delighted to cement another 25-year partnership with local business for the on-Island generation of solar power. Working in collaboration with more local companies, we believe solar power can have an increased long-term role in our energy system. It sits comfortably alongside our imported renewable hydropower which already accounts for a third of the electricity used in Jersey.

‘We want to see Jersey make a green recovery in the aftermath of the Coronavirus crisis and we believe projects like this, in partnership with local businesses, will help to not only stimulate economic recovery but also make it a green recovery.’