Plans advance for tidal lagoon in the Severn Estuary
Twm Owen, local democracy reporter
Plans to harness the tidal power of the Severn Estuary are being progressed, a council leader has said.
Proposals for a tidal lagoon, that would be smaller than a barrage spanning the Severn which has been previously touted but dismissed on cost grounds, were revealed in March in a report by the Severn Estuary Commission
Its report called for the UK and Welsh governments to support the project though the commission was hosted by the Western Gateway Partnership, of local authorities in South Wales and South West of England, that was disbanded in June.
Cardiff Capital Region
But Monmouthshire County Council leader Mary Ann Brocklesby, who chairs the Cardiff Capital Region that represents the 10 unitary authorities in South East Wales, said it is still working on the proposal with counterparts not only in the south west of England but also Liverpool.
“We’ve started to realise our relationship with the West of England Combined Authority and with Liverpool around tidal power, that is very exciting,” Cllr Brocklesby told a meeting of the Cardiff Capital Region’s overview and scrutiny committee.
She said the region’s purchase of the former Aberthaw coal fired power station, on the Vale of Glamorgan coast – which has ultimately resulted in the body having to pay a £5 million legal settlement over how a contract to dismantle it was awarded – will also benefit its ambitions.
Energy park
It paid £38m for the purchase of the 500 acre site, in 2022, which it intends developing as a “renewable and green energy park”.
“Aberthaw can be huge benefit socially as well as economically,” said Labour’s Cllr Brocklesby who acknowledged “working our way through the procurement issues” which resulted in it having to pay the £5m settlement has been a “real challenge” for the region in its first year as an independent body, having first been a project established by the partner councils.
The capital region’s chief executive Kellie Beirne said it has “good relationship” with the National Grid on a “reconnection agreement” that will be submitted shortly for Aberthaw, which ceased operating in 2019.
“There is a lot of work to build upon around the tidal lagoon opportunity as highlighted by the Severn Estuary Commission, that is something for us to keep building on,” Ms Beirne told the committee of councillors from across the region.
She also described Aberthaw, which is owned by CCR Energy a limited company in which the capital region is the only shareholder, as a “key asset”.
Fuel ash
She said: “Apart from the two National Grid substations there is 18 million tonnes of pulverised fuel ash we’ve drilled down nearly 27 holes, down to depths of nearly 30 metres, to be able to understand, a valorisation exercise, on that fuel ash that will hopefully tell us the mineral content, what it was used for and could be in the future.”
She also said the first phase of demolition at the site has been completed and handed back to the the region will be able to “claim things like land reclamation tax against that”.
But she warned the regional body won’t be able to fully fund the development of the site itself.
She said: “Will we be able to afford to do it all? No way. The cost will ultimately require significant private sector input. In 18 months time, when the demolition is complete, that is when we will be able to bring the full master plan together and start enacting some of the projects that we’ve spoken about in the past.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Is this why Swansea’s lagoon was refused?
Unfortunately that failed Whitehall’s “does it benefit London” test.
No. But the Swansea Lagoon spectacularly passed the complete waste of money test. £1.3 billion to generate a small amount of electricity and destroy the fish stocks of Swansea Bay. It was economic and environmental madness and was rightly laid to rest. Exactly the same fate awaits the Severn lagoon too. The only people who benefit from these projects are consultants who pocket large sums of money repeating the calculations and reports that condemned previous similar projects. Perhaps somebody can engage brain before engaging another expensive consultant to come to the same conclusion this time.
Presumably you’d support removing the Cardiff Bay barrage rather than installing turbines.
Hinckley Point….only 46 billion mind.
No. It was because the subsidy requirement was a rip off on consumers. Unless and until government decides what it is prepared to pay, lagoons and barrages will remain a pipe dream. These proposals have been going nowhere for 25-30 years and it appears that the preferred solution is nuclear.
Swansea was refused because it was far too expensive, as this will be.
Tidal or wave generation is far too expensive.
We don’t need it, we have too much expensive renewables as it is.
How can it be expensive if it’s just some rocks and turbines. If Whitehall didn’t like the commercial terms they were free to negotiate or even nationalise and build it themselves. The purpose of a small first project was to prove the technology in the UK as a basis for larger more efficient versions. It didn’t need to be highly profitable. It was rejected because central government didn’t want to see the technology developed. We can only speculate on the real reasons that the oil and gas sponsored Conservative party opposed it.
The lagoon debate needs to focus on lessons learnt from other global tidal lagoon projects and create a network of academics and operators to discuss. I’ve just done a quick internet search and not found any global exemplars https://www.businessgreen.com/feature/2379437/the-worlds-10-biggest-tidal-power-plants – so i question the economic argument. Denmark was the first country in Europe to deliver its’ rail upgrades against the original http://www.ertms.net specification and their rail operator set up a consultancy with 25 other rail operators to support; that approach uses no consultants, organisations self-fund and best practices are shared. The Senedd has given too much work to Cardiff University,… Read more »
They couldn’t find the money for a full span tidal barrage, but similar money appeared for a new nuclear plant. Um, but where do we dump the nuclear waste? Sellafield is full.
Wouldn’t this project affect the annual Severn Bore?
Why not underwater generators sat in the main tide streams, floating or anchored deep. Lagoons create havoc with the local wildlife and the severn estuary is a wonder of the world but people would dam it for idiocy.
A barrage across the severn is absolute destruction of nature and should never even be contemplated.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/what-we-do/influence-government-and-business/casework/the-severn-estuary#our-position-on-tidal-lagoons
This is nonsense: calming a deoxygenated and intense mud storm is not destructive it enhances the estuary and realignment of the estuary has to occur in the anthropomocene as sea level rises; wader density is increased post barrage and salt marsh is created. 8.5 GW for 30 billion pounds is far cheaper than either Hinkley or Sizewell that are costing close to 100 billion for 6.5 GW and only last 60 years with no storage capacity for the waste.. RSPB should lay out the post Barrage ecosystem clearly instead of posturing and resignations frankly are in order . Tidal lasts… Read more »
I wonder how much Crown Estate adds to the expense and bureaucracy, and for how long.
Concentrate on fixing health and education.