Proposals for a range of different barrages across the Severn Estuary, near Burnham-On-Sea, are being considered as part of plans to develop tidal power in the UK, the Government confirmed this week.
A list of ten projects being examined by the Government’s feasibility study into tidal energy also includes proposals for tidal lagoons and a scheme which would feature a wave farm and four marinas.
The list of proposals which will be given further consideration were unveiled by Energy Secretary John Hutton at an event in Cardiff.
A shortlist will be published later in the year for which schemes will be taken forward for more extensive research.
The 10 schemes announced today include the 10-mile Lavernock Point to Brean Down barrage plan, which could generate up to five per cent of the UK’s electricity, and the shorter Shoots barrage further up the estuary.
Outer Barrage from Minehead to Aberthaw – this would be the largest barrage and would make maximum use of the Severn Estuary tidal resource; Middle Barrage from Brean Down to Lavernock Point – most well-studied option, known as the Cardiff-Weston barrage;
Middle Barrage from Hinkley to Lavernock Point – as option 2 but lands at Hinkley;
Inner Barrage (Shoots Barrage) – also known as English Stones scheme and studied in detail by the Sustainable Development Commission;
Beachley Barrage – barrage further upstream, smaller generating capacity than Shoots;
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;
Lagoon enclosure on the Welsh grounds (Fleming lagoon) – one of the previously studied Russell lagoons from the 1980s;
Tidal lagoon concept – a proposal for a number of tidal lagoons;
Tidal reef proposal – a concept that would include floating turbines;
Severn Lake Scheme – a barrage just over a half-a-mile wide 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.
The list also includes an even larger “Outer Barrage” from Minehead in Somerset to Aberthaw (exclusively featured here by Burnham-On-Sea.com last week) and the Beachley barrage, which would be further upstream and have a smaller operating capacity than the Shoots barrage.
Mr 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 per cent of the UK’s current electricity demand.”
The two-year, multi-million-pound feasibility study aims to assess the costs, benefits and impact of such a tidal scheme in the Severn and identify a single preferred project from the options that have been proposed.
Proposals for a barrage have attracted controversy, with wildlife groups concerned about the impact it could have on the rich ecosystems in the area.
The Government’s sustainability watchdog the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) last year said a tidal barrage blocking the tide’s flow through the estuary could be built if it complied with environmental laws.
But green groups such as Friends of the Earth have called for less environmentally damaging schemes such as tidal lagoons, which would harness the tide’s power as it ebbed and flowed.
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Official Severn Lake Website [External Link]
