2 September 2010
Speculation is building over the future of a massive proposal, which could see 5% of the UK’s electricity generated from a tidal barrage on the Severn Estuary.
Concern that the cash-strapped government will not back the project has kicked off in the press this week, after Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) minister Charles Hendry was asked about its future at an energy conference in Norway. The minister said the government has been “looking at the likely costs and these have been escalating over time”.
Five options for generating tidal power from the Severn Estuary are on the table, ranging in ambition from a £20.9 billion, 8.6GW Cardiff-Weston Barrage, which could supply 5% of the UK’s electricity demand, to the smaller-scale 625MW Beachley Barrage, which would cost around £2.3 billion. The UK government is due to publish a study on the financial feasibility of the Severn Barrage tidal power project in the autumn.
Stephanie Merry from the Renewable Energy Association, who sits on the project’s advisory panel, told Bloomberg she believes the government will shelve the proposals. “With the present economic climate, a new public project of this scale would be unlikely to receive support. I hope that I am wrong,” she said.
“I know people have been speculating, but this announcement will be made through Parliament first,” said a spokesman for DECC.
“We’ll be publishing the results of the feasibility study in the autumn,” he said. A more specific deadline for the release of the study is not yet available.
Peter Madigan, head of offshore renewables at industry association RenewableUK, also noted that this feasibility study is still due to report. “That’s the real marker for any movement” on the project’s future, he said. The feasibility study is looking at “a range of options of different sizes and considerations, and they will have very different costs associated with them”.
The estuary and river between England and Wales has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world – referring to the difference in height between high and low tide. Proposals to harness this resource to generate electricity have been repeatedly dashed, with one of the earliest dating back to 1931, before the Severn Bridge was built.
A consultation in 2008 revived the idea, and resulted in the current shortlist of five options. However, the shortlist received short shrift from environmental groups including Friends of the Earth and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, because of concerns about ecological damage to the estuary.
Jess McCabe
