Energy and Climate Change CommitteeWritten evidence submitte by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay (SEV83)
Overview of the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Proposal
We believe that tidal lagoons should form a significant part of our future energy mix and can help us achieve greater security of supply while reducing the cost of electricity to consumers. Our proposed project in Swansea will be a flagship for the UK and Wales, generating cost effective, predictable and fully renewable power from the tidal range in Welsh waters. We therefore welcome any support for the development of tidal lagoons as part of Wales’ energy mix.
Tidal lagoons offer the first renewable form of baseload electricity generation which encompass the predictability of tides and generation periods. Developments provide a low risk, low cost renewable energy source without significant innovation. They hold the potential to harness significant power from a natural resource widely available from an island nation and in close proximity to population centres for low loss distribution. This renewable energy source is also able to be plugged into the national grid without requirement for additional balancing fossil fuel driven capacity.
This development project will be the world’s first man-made tidal lagoon, producing enough sustainable and predictable electricity to power over 107,000 homes—the equivalent of Swansea’s entire domestic electricity use—saving over 200,0000 tonnes of CO2 annually. It is estimated to represent a £550 million investment. It is also a significant opportunity for Wales to take the lead in the tidal industry for the UK as we work towards driving a critical change in the UK’s energy mix with low cost, low carbon electricity sources that are sustainable long-term. Importantly, we believe that this power plant has the potential to be connected to the Grid by 2017.
The project is expected to have an installed power capacity of 200MW, making use of four tidal movements per day to produce around 400GWh of renewable electricity per year for over 100 years. This level of generation qualifies the proposal as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), and as such the associated planning application will be considered by the Planning Inspectorate and determined by the Secretary of State. Separate applications may be made to the City and County of Swansea for some elements of the scheme, in addition a marine licence will be required from the Welsh Government.
The lagoon will comprise a “land attached” impoundment sitting between the dredged channels of the Tawe and Neath rivers. With landfall points situated at either end of Associated British Ports’ owned Swansea Docks, the lagoon will not obstruct the entrance to any rivers or marinas, nor adversely affect the operation of the port.
Permission will be sought for: the construction of a c.10km breakwater wall extending out from the Port of Swansea to enclose c.10km² of tidal area; sand dredging within the lagoon perimeter; the construction of turbine housings, sluices and a visitor centre on the lagoon wall; plus associated onshore amenities. The total height of the wall will be 11m (rear) and 19m (sea). The visibility of the wall at low water will be 11.3m, at high water it will measure 2.8m.
Swansea Bay has been chosen as it offers the necessary conditions for building lagoons—the water must be shallow and the tidal range must be large. The Severn Estuary holds the second highest tidal range in the world and Swansea Bay reaches a range of up to 12m. As well as benefitting from this key characteristic, Swansea has a site of gently sloping seabed (suitable for this construction method) and proximity to a population centre, such that transmission losses are minimised from the electricity produced.
In addition to clean energy production, we believe this project will facilitate wider regeneration objectives in Swansea and South Wales, creating a new visitor attraction comprising an education centre, an iconic art and cultural venue, a mariculture resource, and a national sports centre suitable for sailing, canoeing/kayaking, rowing, triathlon, open-water swimming and running events.
Environmental Impact
We recognise that any development of this size will have an effect on its environment. We are committed to minimising any adverse impacts of our build programme and operation through comprehensive assessment and understanding of potential impacts, thorough consultation, analysis and appropriate design tuning. Between early 2011 and autumn 2012 we produced a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping report that outlines our proposed approach and areas of inclusion for EIA. This was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on 15 October 2012 and is available to view through the link on their website. This document covers the proposed scope for a wide range of investigations, including coastal processes, sediment changes and sands, water quality and visual impact. From the outset of the project we have sought informal feedback from statutory consultees such as the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales and the local ports authorities.
We are now in the process of assessing baseline scenarios and setting up our hydrodynamic model with which impacts can be measured, employing a team of independent experts to carry out our assessment process. Additionally we aim for our lagoon to have a net positive affect due to the creation of a 10 km sea reef and the creation of oyster beds and mussel beds.
Finance and Partners
Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is being driven by Tidal Lagoon Power Limited. Our focus is the development of a series of tidal lagoons to generate renewable energy from the rise and fall of the considerable tidal range to be found in Welsh and UK waters. The vision of the business is to deliver 10,000 MW of power from tidal range in the UK and thus change the energy mix to home-grown, low carbon energy that creates local jobs, cheap power and local long term amenities for the communities who host the lagoons.
Tidal Lagoon Power is privately funded and founded by Mark Shorrock, CEO. Mark is a pioneering entrepreneur in renewables who has founded four companies including Wind Energy, a Scottish based developer of wind farms. Mark grew Wind Energy Ltd into the largest independent developer of wind farms in the UK with over 650MW of wind farms moving through the planning process. In 2006 Mark founded Low Carbon Investors, investment manager of the AIM listed Low Carbon Accelerator fund which he also founded. In 2008 he founded Low Carbon Solar Holdings, a private investment vehicle currently investing in solar power plants in Spain. Prior to founding Tidal Lagoon Power, Mark was a founder of Low Carbon Solar which in 2011 developed and funded the deployment of £70 million of solar energy, totalling 28MW.
Core members of Tidal Lagoon Power’s consortium are Atkins Engineering, responsible for design of the lagoon, Van Oord, responsible for construction, Costain, construction of caissons and future Operations and Maintenance, Sgurr Energy, responsible for financier’s technical assessment, GKL Consulting, responsible for Environmental Impact Assessment work and a series of coastal process and oceanography consultancies including Intertek Metoc, ABPmer and Titan Environmental Surveys.
Consultation
Adopting an informal, early consultation approach we have aimed to ensure as much collaboration with all stakeholders as possible, seeking feedback on early proposals and including concerns raised within our approach to assessment. So far we have held audiences with over 100 stakeholder organisations.
Informal consultation to date as had provided the blueprint for our strategy for community engagement and plans for community benefits. We plan to set up a community fund, offer a local community share and provide a local electricity tariff. This is also an opportunity to support existing local community regeneration organisations, employment and apprentice schemes and environmental and arts initiatives.
We will begin formal consultation in May 2013 with full project detail, subject to design readiness, with the view of submitting an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate in Q3 of this year, between July and September.
If you would like us to arrange a meeting in the near future please contact Lucy James Tel: 01242 308043, lucy.james@tidallagoonpower.com.
More details are available on our website, www.tidallagoonswanseabay.com, where you can also register for updates as the project progresses. We look forward to keeping you informed as we reach key stages of the development.
January 2013