Swansea Bay, South Wales, could become home to the world’s first, purpose-built, tidal lagoon power plant and, if built as envisioned, it would be capable of generating electricity equivalent to Swansea’s entire domestic consumption.
The proposed 250MW power plant would, it is said, produce predictable, base-load electricity for 16 hours a day, using both the ebb and flood tides.
In a nutshell, this is a tidal barrage scheme, but on a much smaller scale than the Severn Estuary proposal that rumbles on.
It is claimed by proponent Tidal Lagoon Power that the scheme would obviate more than 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum over its projected design life of over 100 years.
The current build cost is £650million and, according to the development company behind the scheme, the Swansea project would be a significant opportunity for Wales to take the lead in the tidal industry for the UK.
The power plant could be connected to the National Grid and be “power ready” in 2017, it is said.
Under the proposal, the tidal lagoon would comprise a “land attached” impoundment (lagoon) located between the dredged channels of the Tawe and Neath rivers.
The enclosed area will be approximately 10sq km with a total wall length in the region of 10km. Landfall points would be located at or near Swansea docks, but the lagoon would not obstruct the entrance to any rivers or marinas, nor, claims the developer, adversely affect the operation of the port.
The total height of the seawall would be approximately 11m (shore side) and 19m (offshore). The visibility of the wall at low water would be 11.3m, at high water it would reduce to about 2.8m.
The site would have a total installed capacity of c.250MW with a potential annual output of about 400GWh (gigawatt hours).
Alex Herbert, head of planning for Tidal Lagoon Power, said: “The Swansea project will hopefully be the first in a network of lagoons around the UK coastline, driving a critical change in our energy mix with low-cost, low-carbon electricity sources that are sustainable long-term.
“Detailed plans for the lagoon are now being finalised prior to beginning formal consultation in summer 2013. Our intention, subject to design readiness, is to submit an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate in the late autumn of 2013.”
Swansea Bay is located on the South Wales coast, which forms the northern side of the approaches to the Severn, which has been the subject of a number of grandiose and controversial tidal barrage schemes, none of which have been approved. Various lagoon schemes were proposed as subsets of the main Severn Scheme, including at Bridgewater.
There are only two schemes in the world that make use of the tidal barrage principle . . . La Rance in Brittany and the much smaller Bay of Fundy project, sandwiched between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
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