Tidal power shortlist

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced the shortlist of schemes aimed at generating environmentally friendly electricity using tidal power in the Severn Estuary.

The shortlist is made up of five projects which include a mixture of barrage and lagoon technologies.

The largest project, Cardiff Weston Barrage, has the potential to generate almost five per cent of the UK’s electricity by harnessing the Severn Estuary’s tidal power.

Further projects include the Bridgewater Bay Lagoon, a proposal that impounds a section of the estuary without damming it; Beachley Barrage, located above the Wye River; Shoots Barrage; and Fleming Lagoon.

Prof David Elliott, co-director of the Energy and Environment Research Unit, expressed concern at the perceived lack of innovation in the proposed projects.

He said: ‘The DECC shortlist inevitably includes the Cardiff Weston Barrage, since this is the most studied and largest option. But it is also the one that is most opposed by environmental groups as it would block the entire estuary, unlike the various lagoon schemes, which they would prefer.