The entrepreneur behind plans to build a Severn Barrage between Brean Down and Wales has this week called on the government to take a fresh look at his project in the wake of ongoing delays to Hinkley Point C.
During a visit to Burnham over the weekend, Gareth Woodham from the Severn Lake project, pictured, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This is a golden opportunity for the government and the Energy Minister Amber Rudd to revisit the barrage project, especially in light of the uncertainty around the French company EDF’s ability to fund Hinkley’s untested nuclear technology.”
“New energy sources are needed in the UK and I would like to see the natural power of the Severn Estuary harnessed, securing local energy and creating local jobs around a whole ‘ribbon development’.”
He added: “The delays in EDF’s investment decision mean the government has a chance to step back and re-think their energy strategy.”
Mr Woodham, who has been campaigning for hydro-electric energy from the Severn Estuary for ten years, added: “We are proposing a new fixed blade turbine scheme that will generate power from the Severn Estuary at the lowest build cost and the highest output.”
“Our new turbine halls design for the barrage would deliver a full solution to the ebb and flow output.”
On Hinkley Point C, he added: “The fear around untested nuclear power in the south west should be removed.”
“Moving on, I would like to see the funding for Severn Estuary power originating here in the United Kingdom, supported by a government-backed bond scheme paid over 100 years with discounted energy for the public, not the huge ‘strike price’ currently planned using funding from foreign investors such as China.”
“It would be far better to have the project secured with UK funding, safe in our hands, and with clean renewable energy being created for the third millennium.”
