Isentropic energy storage Isle of Man

Can the Isle of Man rely on gas and oil?

It’s clear that like all leading economies the Isle of Man cannot rely on gas and oil indefinitely. While the island’s target to achieve net-zero by 2050 may seem far away, most of us worry about the current price of energy. Graph showing options to generate renewable power, store energy and utilise power on the Isle of Man.

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 pumped hydro storage be used on the Isle of Man?

Due to geography, these countries have fantastic potential for pumped hydro storage, which is the cheapest storage medium due to its relatively high efficiency. Such options are not available on the Isle of Man and the island would have to utilise sea water instead.

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.

Will intermittent renewables be profitable for the Isle of Man?

It is unlikely that the export of intermittent renewables will be profitable for the Isle of Man given the reasons outlined in this document. The Isle of Man currently imports all of its energy from the UK (with the exception of what is produced from Sulby).