Concern has been expressed that the tidal lagoon review announced today by the Government could delay progress for months on the proposed £1 billion renewable energy lagoon in Swansea Bay.

Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay plc,  the developer working on the scheme, was expressing his concern about the continuing delay in considering the demonstration first-of-a-kind tidal lagoon for the UK. He said:

 “It is imperative that we conclude our structuring and commercial negotiation with Government within the next 6 weeks.  This is entirely possible; the review should not impact the finalisation of our commercial discussions. To unlock the potential of tidal lagoon power, we need investment in a demonstration project that will grow the supply chain and build investor confidence that an exceptionally long term project can go forward in today’s UK electricity market.”

He described the review as a huge step from the UK Government and a clear signal that it sees potential advantage for the UK energy consumer in very long-dated tidal energy infrastructure assets, saying:

“There is vast potential for tidal lagoon power to provide cheap long-term renewable energy at scale and to be taken formally into national policy.”

“We welcome the opportunity to put the case for a major programme of cost-effective power. This is a home-grown source of power, the natural way to power our nation.  We have built a supply chain which puts UK companies at the forefront of a new world-leading technology.”

According to Shorrock, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is an appropriately small pilot project that gives rise to large scale projects. Investing in the project could add as little as 10p to householder’s bills, while the first large scale lagoon to employ its blueprint could take £5 off householder’s bills.

With planning permission and equity sponsors already secured and a delivery team and a supply chain already in place, the project planned for Swansea Bay is ready to go now.

Mark Shorrock warned:

“If tidal lagoon power at scale is to be a real option for the longer term, we need to start work on Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon now. Otherwise the opportunity will be lost and the review will be all for nothing.” 

“We want to give birth to a tidal range industry. We want to return steel workers into jobs. We want to make our own turbines and generators here in the UK, we want to bestow a legacy on Great Britain from Wales of 120 year life power. But none of this will be possible if we don’t start now.”

“A welcome review should not be a substitute for action. There is a serious and growing gap of electricity generation capacity. We need 16 new large scale power stations. The cheapest new power stations will be tidal lagoons, roof-top solar power and gas fired power stations. We need all three and quickly. And when the nuclear stations are ready, we will probably need them too, but their timescales are more uncertain.”

“We have made a value-for-money proposition to Government. There is no reason not to press on with Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon negotiations. “

He went on to point out that energy in the UK has become a completely regulated market where all operators and technology forms - from fossil fuel, to nuclear, to renewable - depend on direct or indirect subsidy. He also made the interesting point that all non-hydro low carbon energies - solar, biomass, wind, and especially nuclear - have been conformed to favour foreign providers of the technology.

Mark Shorrock concluded:

“Our company’s vision is to harness the tides to generate our power, and to establish a new global industry in the UK.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with Government on the delivery of this vision, including on the most efficient financial support structures for tidal lagoons.  But we will be pushing for Government support to demonstrate the potential of tidal lagoon power by giving the go-ahead for the Swansea Bay project, thereby avoiding the still birth of a game-changer for UK energy and UK industry.”