Severn barrage tidal energy scheme expected to be axed

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is to make an announcement on energy policy on Monday

Plans for a controversial £30bn Severn barrage tidal energy project stretching from Weston-super-Mare in Somerset to Cardiff are expected to be scrapped.

Secretary of State for Energy Chris Huhne is expected to make the announcement in Parliament on Monday.
Reports suggest the scheme is to be axed as it is not "financially viable" and that instead he will give the go-ahead to new nuclear power stations.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change could not confirm or deny it.

Supporters of the tidal project, which would link Lavernock Point near Cardiff, to Brean Down near Weston-Super-Mare, claimed it could generate 5% of Britain's electricity.

Dr Rob Kirby, an independent expert on the Severn Estuary, has worked on the project for the last 40 years.
Dr Kirby, who has worked with the Department for Energy and Climate Change on the Severn barrage, said: "The government's view is that it's too big a project to approach in financial terms.
'Environmental fundamentalism'
"Raising the money in this financial climate would be too much of a challenge.
"The barrage has been killed off for the moment by environmental fundamentalism because environmentalists have always objected to the Severn barrage.
"It's quite unambiguous - the Cardiff to Weston (barrage) can only benefit the environment and those who say otherwise are not telling the truth."
Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said scrapping the barrage would be "equally disastrous" for the economy and the environment.

“Start Quote

We're messing with nature in too big a way”

End Quote Chris Witts River Severn historian

"Not only is Chris Huhne turning his back on the proposed barrage scheme that would have created hundreds of good quality green jobs for Welsh people, it appears that he decided to abandon in its entirety the idea of using the Severn estuary as a generator of electricity.

"The proposed barrage would have produced 5% of the UK's energy needs - equivalent to two nuclear power stations."
The proposals caused concern among environmental groups, including the RSPB and Friends of the Earth Cymru, concerned about the impact on wildlife in the estuary.
Chris Witts, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Gloucester City Council and a River Severn historian, said: "I'm delighted if the barrage is to be scrapped.
"We're messing with nature in too big a way. I hear stories from around the world that barrages have created problems and I wouldn't want to see problems created on the Severn.
"I'm not against getting energy from the Severn but not with a barrage on this scale."
The 10-mile (16km) barrage proposal - known as the Cardiff-Weston barrage - is one of five shortlisted schemes to harness renewable energy from the tides of the Severn Estuary, which has the second-largest tidal range in the world with 42ft (12.8m) tides.
The barrage would harness water power using a hydro-electric dam, but would be filled by the incoming tide rather than by water flowing downstream.

David Milliband thought this was a good idea,?

Severn's tidal barrage rejected

The inquiry said a larger barrage would seriously damage the estuary

An inquiry into harnessing tidal power in the Severn Estuary has rejected plans for a multi-billion pound barrage between Weston-super-Mare and Cardiff.

The investigation was carried out over 12 months by Liberal Democrat MPs, Welsh Assembly Members and councillors in the West of England and Wales.
The inquiry said it feared the large barrage would damage the estuary.
It recommended instead that a smaller barrage is built near the Second Severn Crossing.
The inquiry also urged investment in technology to help store tidal power.
'Economic damage'

Northavon MP Steve Webb on why a smaller Severn barrage is the better option, financially and for the estuary environment.

The commission's inquiry said a larger Severn barrage would "do serious damage to the estuary by wiping out around 80% of the 'inter-tidal habitat'."
It also claims the larger barrage option is less cost-effective than the shorter barrage and "would cause serious economic damage to the port of Bristol".
The inquiry held evidence sessions at Cardiff, Bristol and Portishead and has studied the documents which have been prepared by the government as part of its own appraisal of options for Severn Tidal power.
The commission was jointly chaired by Northavon MP Steve Webb and Mike German AM.
"We believe that a smaller barrage offers the best mix of power output with reduced environmental impact and also offers the chance for a major upgrade to public transport through Wales and the West of England," said Steve Webb.
Morgan Parry, Head of WWF Cymru said: "We welcome the rejection of the Cardiff -Weston barrage which would undoubtedly cause significant environmental damage to the internationally-important Severn Estuary."

Severn tidal power

Severn tidal power – an NSIP?

Submitted by Angus_Walker on 24 August 2009 - 4:48pm.

This is entry number 17 of a blog on the implementation of the Planning Act 2008. Click here for a link to the whole blog.

Last month the government reported on its consultation to harness tidal power from the River Severn. This is likely to be the first major project to tap into one of the last unexploited types of natural energy in and around the UK. Unlike wave and wind power, tidal power is predictable in terms of timing and scale. Today’s entry looks at the shortlisted schemes and examines whether they will have to seek approval under the Planning Act 2008 as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).

Five schemes were shortlisted (the list was not made any shorter by the consultation). Three of them are barrages – i.e. they span the estuary – and two are lagoon projects – i.e. they impound water at one shore and let it in and out. The options are therefore not mutually exclusive.

The Beachley Barrage is the furthest upstream – it is upstream of the Wye near Chepstow. It is estimated to generate 2.7 terawatt hours per year (TWh/year).

The Shoots Barrage is next – it crosses the Severn near the road bridges from north of Avonmouth to south of Caldicot, and is estimated to generate 1.6TWh/year.

The final barrage is the Cardiff-Weston Barrage, whose name suggests its route. It is the most expensive and the furthest downstream, estimated to generate 16.8TWh/year or 5% of the UK’s electricity needs.

The upstream lagoon on the Welsh side is the Fleming Lagoon between Newport and the road bridges, estimated to generate 2.3TWh/year.

Finally, the downstream lagoon on the English side is the Bridgwater Bay Lagoon between Hinkley Point (another source of low-carbon electricity as it is the site of a nuclear power station) and Weston-super-Mare. It would generate 2.6TWh/year.

Would any of these be NSIPs? The two questions are whether the Act applies to generating stations in Wales or off Welsh waters, and whether these projects are above the size threshold as offshore ones of at least 100MW.

The answer to the first question is that the Act does apply to generating stations in Wales as well as England (although note that not all NSIP categories do apply in Wales), and also to Welsh as well as English waters.

For the answer to the second question, as is fairly often the case in assessing NSIPs, the project is given in different units and must be converted. In this case, one must convert terawatt hours per year to megawatts. A terawatt is a million megawatts (from the Greek for ‘monster’, rather than the Greek for just ‘big’) and there are about 8766 hours in a year, so one can calculate that 100MW is equivalent to 1.147TWh/year.

All five projects are therefore, not surprisingly, above the threshold and will have to use the new regime if they are applied for after 1 March 2010. As the next step is to look into the feasibility of each scheme, and applications are not expected to be made until 2014, this will certainly be the case for those that go ahead. So the answer to the question posed in the title is 'yes - and it may be more than one'.

If you would like to find out more about the application of these schemes to the new regime, please