Where does the Isle of Man electricity come from?

The majority of the Isle of Man’s electricity is currently sourced from fossil fuels. The interconnector is a source of carbon neutral electricity on island and also provides a route to export electricity to the GB Market.

Can electricity be decarbonised on the Isle of Man?

Electricity generation is responsible for approximately 33% of all greenhouse gas emissions on the Isle of Man, and a majority of this is currently sourced from fossil fuels (natural gas). Without the decarbonisation1 of electricity, it will not be possible to reduce carbon emissions significantly in other areas such as heating and transport.

Can Isle of Man export electricity to GB?

There is also limited opportunities for Isle of Man to export electricity to GB, due to the excess capacity of renewable generators expected to be in operation by 2050. Isle of Man assets also have an 11% CAPEX uplift compared to equivalent UK installations, due to labour, available skill-set, transport and economies of scale.

Does the Isle of Man need a new interconnector?

Balancing the Isle of Man’s electricity network requires stabilising power; this cannot be provided from sources which are reliant on the weather to produce electricity as these sources cannot be guaranteed at all times. In all scenarios the most cost-effective solution of providing this stabilising power is a new interconnector to the UK.

Could the Isle of Man re-import electricity from an offshore wind farm?

With interconnectors the Isle of Man could re-import electricity generated from an offshore wind farm, allowing GB to manage the balancing. This would likely result in much lower costs to consumers. CFDs are not currently open to the Isle of Man as it is not part of the UK.

Does the Isle of Man import energy from the UK?

The Isle of Man currently imports all of its energy from the UK (with the exception of what is produced from Sulby). In all future models, the Isle of Man remains dependent on GB for the provision of baseload. This is the case even where capacity is increased by building excess renewables, as the stabilisation is still provided by interconnectors.