DEPARTMENT FOR
BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/153)
issued by The Government News Network on 24 July 2008
A list of 10
proposed projects that could provide clean, green energy from the
tide in the Severn Estuary is being considered. The list has been
published at an event to discuss the progress of the feasibility
study in Cardiff attended by organisations such as environmental
groups, local businesses and councils.
The feasibility study, commissioned by Secretary of State for
Energy John Hutton, will now look in further detail at the 10 schemes.
A short list will be published later this year highlighting which
preferred proposals could be taken forward for more extensive research.
John Hutton said:
"Harnessing the power of the Severn Estuary could be an
engineering project of breathtaking scale and we will look at the
full range of technologies and locations.
"Such a project could play an important role in our
ambition to dramatically increase the amount of energy from
renewable sources. The tidal range on the Severn is the second
largest in the world and has the potential to provide around 5% of
the UK's current electricity demand."
Welsh Assembly Government Environment, Sustainability and Housing
Minister, Jane Davidson said:
"The aim of the joint feasibility study is to look at all
the potential options for generating renewable and sustainable
energy from the huge tidal range of the Severn estuary.
"It is important to stress that while there is much talk of
a 'barrage' this feasibility study is looking at a range
of other options.
"The potential here is great and the Severn Estuary is a
resource that could help us make a significant contribution to the
proposed UK renewables target of 15% by 2020."
The list of ten options is as follows:
1. Outer Barrage from Minehead to Aberthaw: this would be the
largest barrage and would make maximum use of the Severn Estuary
tidal resource
2. Middle Barrage from Brean Down to Lavernock Point: most
well-studied option, known as the Cardiff-Weston barrage
3. Middle Barrage from Hinkley to Lavernock Point: as option 2
but lands at Hinkley
4. Inner Barrage (Shoots Barrage): also known as English Stones
scheme and studied in detail by the Sustainable Development Commission
5. Beachley Barrage: barrage further upstream, smaller generating
capacity than Shoots.
6. Tidal Fence proposal: a barrier constructed over part of the
Cardiff to Weston line, with open sections, incorporating tidal
stream turbines to capture energy from the ebb and flood tides.
7. Lagoon enclosure on the Welsh grounds (Fleming lagoon): one of
the previously studied Russell lagoons from 1980s
8. Tidal lagoon concept: a proposal for a number of tidal lagoons
9. Tidal reef proposal: a concept that would include floating
turbines and caissons
10. Severn Lake Scheme: a 1 km wide barrage in the same location
as the Cardiff-Weston scheme designed to allow the construction of
a number of additional features, including a wave farm on the
seaward side and four marinas
Notes to editors:
1. Options for the generation of power using the tidal range of
the Severn have been identified from three sources:
* Call for Proposals, issued as part of the Call for Evidence on
12 May 2008. The Call for Proposals invited interested parties to
submit evidence based proposals for development which will
generate electricity from the tidal range of the Severn Estuary.
* The options studied by the Sustainable Development
Commission's (SDC) 'Turning the Tide' report,
published on 1st October 2007.
* Other strategic options which were not covered by proposals
from the two sources above.
2. Three proposals put forward have not been included in the
list. One was outside the Severn Estuary so did not fall within
the criteria of the feasibility study. The other two were specific
construction techniques, however, this information will be
considered but not as separate proposals.
3. The proposals gathered will now be assessed and used to
develop the draft Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) scoping
report. This report will look in to what issues need to be covered
to carry out the SEA.
4. The feasibility study will run for two years and will be a two
stage process with a decision point at the end of each. The first
stage work, likely to run until late 2008, will focus on high
level issues and short-listing potential tidal power project
options. It will reach a first view on whether there are any
fundamental issues that mean the project cannot proceed. At this
point there will be a decision to either stop the study, or to
continue with evidence gathering and assessments.
5. A map outlining the locations of the various projects can be
viewed on the BERR website.
6. A meeting was held in Cardiff yesterday to update stakeholders
on the work of the two year long feasibility study, which was
launched in January. It was attended by around 80 interested
parties including businesses, councils and environmental groups.
7. Following the SDC report last year, http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/tidal.html,
the Government is now carrying out a two year study looking at the
feasibility of a tidal power scheme in the Severn Estuary. The
study will focus on tidal range technologies (including barrages
and lagoons) and aims to gather and assess high-level evidence to
enable Government to decide, in the context of the
Government's energy and climate change goals and the
alternative options for achieving these, and after public
consultation, could Government support a tidal power scheme (or
combination of schemes) in the Severn Estuary and if so on what terms.
8. The study - which will build on past-studies to provide an
up-to-date analysis of all the key issues involved - is being
carried out by a cross-Government team lead by the Department of
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and including
representatives of the Welsh Assembly Government and the South
West Regional Development Agency. The team will also be taking
external advice as necessary and engaging stakeholders and the
wider public.
9. The study has six key work areas:
* Environmental - impacts on biodiversity and wildlife; flood
management; geomorphology; water quality; landscape; compensatory habitat
* Engineering and Technical - options appraisal; costs; design
and construction; grid linkage
* Economic - financing; ownership; energy market impacts
* Regional - impacts on business; regional social and economic impacts
* Planning and consents - regulatory compliance
* Stakeholder engagement and communication
10. The study will also include a Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA), to ensure a detailed understanding of its
environmental resource of the Estuary, recognising its National,
European and International nature conservation significance. This
will be a two phase process with two public consultations - one on
the scope towards the end of this year and one on the evidence and
conclusions at the end of the feasibility study in late 2009 or
early 2010.
11. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive world. It
promotes business growth and a strong enterprise economy, leads
the better regulation agenda and champions free and fair markets.
It is the shareholder in a number of Government-owned assets and
it works to secure, clean and competitively priced energy supplies