Prepare to harness this power

The rise and fall of sea level associated with them, meanwhile, has produced a coastline that is as unique as it is fascinating.

For millennia successive generations of Islanders have observed the tides, but until quite recently there will have been no suggestion that the power of tidal streams could be put to practical use. Now, however, there is every prospect that tidal energy can be tapped, providing a new source of electrical power.

Yesterday in the States the chairman of the Jersey Tidal Power Commission, Constable Dan Murphy of Grouville, said that feasibility studies carried out between the Island’s north coast and the Ecréhous had shown that the tides could make a valuable contribution to meeting our energy needs.

For some years it has been argued on first principles that this might be the case, but what was missing was hard evidence in the shape of data that scientists and engineers require before they can assess the viability of energy-generating systems. It appears that at least some of the necessary data has now been collected in respect of the stretch of sea known as Le Ruau.

But no one should imagine that harnessing tidal power will ever be an easy matter. The sea is an extremely hostile environment and any turbines and supporting structures placed in it must be engineered to incredibly high standards. Tidal power units not only have to withstand the battering of winter storms, they also have to be proofed against the corrosive effects of seawater.

Also, as matters stand, the cost of tidal power equipment is so high that it remains more economical to rely on the French cable link – and hence nuclear generation – for the Island’s principal source of electrical power.

But this does not mean that the Tidal Power Commission’s findings can be consigned to a shelf and allowed to gather dust. As the relevant technology advances – and costs become more acceptable – extracting power from the sea is likely to become as routine an operation as generating electricity by means of wind farm windmills.

It is therefore clear that the watchwords are these: we must be prepared.