WORLDS FIRST TIDAL LAGOON SET FOR SWANSEA

The construction of Swansea Tidal Lagoon would signal a positive step for the UK’s ability to meet its future commitment on reducing carbon emission and diversifying the energy mix to secure the UK’s future electricity supply at a low cost.

Swansea is the first of five proposed lagoons around Wales and the wider UK. Projects are planned at Cardiff, Newport, Colwyn Bay, the Cumbrian coast and Bridgwater Bay (Somerset). The Tidal Lagoon Power company claims the series of projects could eventually meet 8% of the UK’s energy needs. Hendry has asked that the Government proceed with the pilot project at Swansea before considering further lagoons, noting there was potential to lower the cost of the technology further.

Government will now need to determine an agreed “strike price” — the guaranteed price for the energy created — for the energy generated from the lagoon to make the project economically viable.

Tidal lagoon power has claimed it could deliver first power from the project as early as 2022, delivering clean power to around 150,000 homes in Wales and making a contribution to the UK’s carbon target for the 2020s. Further delays to the project could mean these targets may be too ambitious.