SEVERN TIDAL POWER CONSULTATION LAUNCHED TODAY BY DECC

26-01-09

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, has today:

• Launched a three month consultation on a short list of five possible Severn tidal power schemes (see list below) and the scope of the Severn tidal Strategic Environmental Assessment.

• Announced an additional £0.5m Government financial support to speed the development of proposals (like the tidal reef and tidal fence) which are highly innovative.

• Committed to considering progress of the new technologies alongside those shortlisted before taking decisions (after a second public consultation, probably in 2010) on whether or not to support the building of a Severn tidal power scheme.

The recommended short list of schemes, for consultation, is:

Shoots Barrage – located near the Severn road crossings, estimated to cost £3.2bn to construct and generate 2.7TWh/year or just under 1% of UK electricity (roughly equivalent to a large fossil fuel power station)

Beachley Barrage – slightly smaller and further upstream than the Shoots Barrage (and upstream of the Wye), estimated to cost £2.3bn and generate 1.6TWh/year

Fleming Lagoon – an impoundment on the Welsh shore of the Estuary between Newport and the Severn road crossings, estimated to cost £4bn and generate 2.3TWh/year

Bridgwater Bay Lagoon – an impoundment on the English shore of the Estuary between Hinkley Point and Weston Super Mare, estimated to cost £3.8bn and generate 2.6TWh/year

Cardiff-Weston Barrage - located between Brean Down and Lavernock Point, estimated to cost £20.9bn and generate 16.8Twh/year or some 5% of UK electricity.

To view the consultation document and to have your say, please visit www.decc.gov.uk/severntidalpowerconsultation

Further information about the feasibility study, the different Severn tidal power options and the information gathered so far can also be found on www.decc.gov.uk/severntidalpowerconsultation.