UK urged to push ahead with Severn tidal power plant
Just a few years after tidal power plans for the Severn Estuary were scrapped a new report urges the Government to 'act now' to harness its 'huge potential', and create an extra £12blln GVA a year.
Dear reader,
Welcome to an earlier edition of The Raikes Journal than usual.
Regular readers will know we usually send out a single story on a Thursday, sometimes paywalled, sometimes not. With Monday and Friday reserved for full editions, the former always free and the latter usually paywalled in order to make what we do sustainable.
But with a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, and this piece of news from the Western Gateway landing in our laps after it published the report by way of a launch this morning in London, today suddenly felt right for an email edition.
As a nation we don’t always do big projects well, and the backstory of attempts to introduce a tidal power scheme to the Severn Estuary, most recently by a Gloucester-headquartered firm in the late noughties, came to nowt - despite approval from the Government, wildlife groups and just about everyone else.
Today’s launch event was about the Western Gateway trying to force the Government to look again. It does feel like it is only a matter of time before, as a nation, we simply have to go ahead and do it. The question being which Government will be brave enough to go ahead?
Certainly the Western Gateway’s Severn Estuary Commission thinks it’s something we should dilly-dally no longer about.
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UK urged to push ahead with Severn tidal power plant
Just a few years after tidal power plans for the Severn Estuary were scrapped a new report is urging the Government to 'act now' to harness its 'huge potential' - and create an extra £12blln GVA a year for the UK.
For a few short years until 2018 a Gloucester-headquartered company was at the centre of exciting plans, backed by the Government here and in Wales, to harness tidal power in the Severn Estuary.
Tidal Lagoon Power, which was headquartered at Gloucester Docks, was working on a £1.3bn scheme it said would be able to generate enough power to generate electricity for 155,000 homes for 120 years.
And then, despite everyone seemingly being on board, the project (which focused on Swansea Bay) was unexpectedly scrapped.
In a dramatic U-turn, the then business and energy secretary, Greg Clark, suddenly announced it was not value for money.
But now the powerful Western Gateway, the pan-regional partnership for South Wales and Western England (of which Gloucestershire is part), is calling on the Government to not just think again, but to “act now” to harness the UK’s huge potential for tidal range energy in the Severn Estuary.
A report published today (March 19 ) by its Severn Estuary Commission, and launched at an event in London in partnership with the Institution of Civil Engineers, has already been welcomed by the Welsh Government.
Whether Westminster will bite is another thing.
The report claims a scheme would not just provide plentiful power for years to come, but generate an extra £12 billion gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy annually and create 220,000 years of new jobs in construction.
The commission is made up of nationally and internationally recognised engineers, financiers, scientists and other experts specifically to look into the potential of tidal energy.
Its members spent the last year “engaging with more than 500 individuals and more than 200 local and national organisations to explore if it is now possible to harness the power of the UK’s largest tidal range following decades of proposals”.
Dr Andrew Garrad CBE, chairman of the commission and a man who received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in recognition of his work in the modern wind energy industry, said: “This last year has been an eye-opening experience for all of us on the commission, understanding the huge potential of this source of renewable energy and also the international environmental importance of the estuary.
“Indeed, what sets this commission aside from previous studies is the emphasis that it has placed on the environment.
“Electricity demand will increase with the widespread uptake of electric vehicles, electrification of heating, industry and proliferation of data centres.
“We urgently need to get serious about how we can make use of our natural resources to meet this demand whilst also tackling our carbon emissions.
“Given the likely timelines for developing a project of this scale, we need to act now to ensure we can deliver the energy when it is needed and at the same time safeguard the environment.”
The report’s conclusion is that tidal range energy in the Severn Estuary is “feasible” and could “deliver predictable, renewable electricity that will work independent of weather conditions”.
The Severn Estuary, holds the largest share of the UK’s tidal range energy potential, estimated at eight to 12 GW and could contribute up to seven per cent of the UK’s electricity needs.
With UK electricity demand set to more than double by 2050, the commission is calling for urgent investment to ensure tidal energy can play a part in the future energy system in a way which is sustainable.
What impact the report will have on a proposal currently being led by DST Innovations and backed by Swansea Council for a private sector-funded renewable energy scheme that also includes a tidal lagoon is unclear (you can find out more about that scheme here).
According to the Western Gateway the UK’s National Energy System Operator already predicts that tidal energy will need to part of any future energy system.
Rebecca Evans MS, cabinet secretary for economy, energy and planning, at the Welsh Government, said: “The Severn Estuary is a source of immense potential energy as one of the highest tidal ranges in the world.
“I welcome the work of the Severn Estuary Commission and I look forward to working with the UK Government and the Western Gateway to make sure that we can harness its potential whilst also protecting this unique asset.”
Sarah Williams-Gardener, chair of the Western Gateway, said: “After many years of debate, we now know that the huge potential of tidal energy in the Severn can and should play a key part in our energy supply.
“We need urgent action to make the most of this opportunity. I am very grateful to the work of this commission to explore this huge opportunity for the UK.
“On behalf of our board of local authorities, I look forward to working with both UK and Welsh governments to make this a reality.”
Now that the commission has delivered its recommendations it will be down to the local authorities who make up the Western Gateway partnership to work with UK and Welsh Government alongside industry to see how they can be put into action.
What are the commissions recommendations?
The UK Government takes steps to ensure that tidal range energy is recognised in national policy to allow progress on the many schemes proposed across the country.
Both the UK and Welsh Government back the development of a new tidal lagoon in the Severn Estuary as part of a “Commercial Demonstration Project”. As well as generating a large amount of low-carbon electricity, this project would drive investment, generate critical environmental data and, if successful, pave the way for further projects securing economic growth and long-term energy resilience for the UK and make the UK a global hub for tidal range energy.
Improved cross-border working and planning is needed to ensure any new development can be strategically delivered to ensure best outcomes for the area.
Governments to recognise the role of tidal range energy in the UK’s future electricity supply in national policy and support its development as an industry.
Develop a tidal lagoon as a “Commercial demonstration project” to demonstrate potential and evaluate environmental effects.
Create a cross-border and regional plan to enable better and more strategic management of the Severn Estuary.
Develop funding and financing framework to unlock private investment – looking at using the already proven “Regulated Asset Base” model.
You can find the full recommendations on the Severn Estuary Commission website alongside the independent reports from WSP, APEM, Hardisty Jones Associates, Oxford Economics, Arcadis, Arup, Agilia Infrastructure Partners, and others.
These reports include detailed findings on the environmental, financial, socio-economic and engineering aspects of tidal range energy in the Severn Estuary which have informed the final recommendations.