River Severn on shortlist to provide tidal power
A ten-mile barrage across the Severn is among five projects on a shortlist for potential schemes to harness the tidal power of the estuary.
Two innovative “lagoon” schemes, which would impound a section of the estuary without damming it, and two smaller barrages are also on the list, published by the government.
Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband said ministers had not “lost sight” of other innovative plans, including a huge “reef” project and tidal fences, which had been on a list of ten schemes under consideration.
He announced £500,000 of funding to develop the new technologies such as the tidal reefs, which supporters say could harness the power of the estuary without causing the environmental damage associated with a barrage.
And he said progress on those technologies would be considered before any final decisions on a tidal power scheme for the Severn estuary were made.
The proposed shortlist, which is now being put out to public consultation, is as follows:
* The Cardiff-Weston barrage – a ten-mile scheme stretching from near Cardiff to near Weston-super-Mare which could generate up to five per cent of the UK’s energy needs;
* Shoots barrage – a scheme further upstream which would generate around 1GW, equivalent to a large fossil fuel plant;
* Beachley barrage – an even smaller scheme, just above the Wye River, which would generate around 625MW;
* Bridgwater Bay lagoon – a proposal which would impound a section of the estuary on the coast between east of Hinkley Point and Weston-super-Mare, which could generate 1.36GW;
* Fleming lagoon – a similar scheme which would generate the same amount of power from a section of the Welsh shore between Newport and the Severn road crossings.
The Severn, which has the second-largest tidal range in the world, has the capacity to provide significant amounts of “green” electricity but conservationists fear some of the plans for the estuary could be hugely damaging to wildlife.
For example, the Cardiff-Weston barrage could destroy between 11,000 and 15,000 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflats, which under European law would have to be replaced with compensatory habitat elsewhere at an estimated cost of £1 billion to £3 billion.
Mr Miliband said there were tough choices to be made in fighting climate change, the “biggest long-term challenge we face”.
“Failing to act on climate change could see catastrophic effects on the environment and its wildlife, but the estuary itself is a protected environment, home to vulnerable species including birds and fish,” he said.
“We need to think about how to balance the value of this unique natural environment against the long-term threat of global climate change.”
All ten projects from the long list, and the proposed shortlist, will now be subject to a three-month consultation.
