The Conservative UK Government must give its full backing to the £1 billion Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and allay fears about its future, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference on Saturday in Cardiff.

Tim Farron was responding to recent comments by the Prime Minister to MPs on the Liaison Committee on 12th January 2016 that his enthusiasm towards the scheme had been reduced by concerns over the electricity strike price.

David Cameron told the MPs:

"The problem with tidal power, simply put, is that at the moment we have not seen any ideas come forward that can hit a strike price in terms of pounds per megawatt-hour that is very attractive. That is the challenge for tidal. Maybe they can come up with something.”

"They are very long-term schemes with big investments up front, and they can last for many, many years, but right now my enthusiasm is reduced slightly by the fact that the cost would be quite high."

According to Farron, the project is a key test for the Government’s commitment to the green energy sector.

The building of a the £1 billion tidal energy lagoon in Swansea Bay has been delayed by around a year as negotiations over the level of UK government funding for the project continue.

Former Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary Ed Davey gave the initial go-ahead for the scheme.

However,according to the Liberal Democrats, since the Conservatives gained majority control in Westminster, enthusiasm has cooled towards the project, with new Energy Secretary Amber Rudd completely omitting the scheme from a recent keynote speech on energy infrastructure.

The Liberal Democrat leader told the conference:

“The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon must go ahead. It will provide hundreds of jobs and supply energy for 120 years – over three times as long as a nuclear plant.”

“It would be utter madness for the Government to pull further investment from the renewable sector which generates economic growth and jobs. We have been a world leader in this field and maintaining that status is now in jeopardy.  The Tidal Lagoon is a litmus test for the Government.”

“For five years we fought sceptical Tories to ensure the Coalition was the greenest Government ever. In the last six months this progress has been unraveling at an alarming pace.”

“It is shameful that the work we began in Coalition to deliver this is being unpicked. Britain should be leading the world in the green economy and setting an example to other nations after the UN talks in Paris.”