Longbay Seapower has notified the Planning Inspectorate of its intention to submit a planning application to construct a 21km tidal lagoon covering 72 square kilometres off the coast of West Somerset in the Bristol Channel in 2018.
The lagoon, which will be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), involves building a continuous breakwater wall spanning from Culvercliff in Minehead to Lilstock (approximately 21 km long) to create a tidal lagoon and associated electricity generating infrastructure with a generating capacity of circa 2.8GW per annum.
According to the developers LongBay SeaPower, in addition to renewable energy generation, the scheme will also act as a sea defence and combat coastal erosion and future flooding.
Outline plans include:
- A continuous breakwater wall, spanning from Culvercliff in Minehead to Blue Ben Point at West Quantoxhead.
- The formation of a lagoon covering 50sq.km.
- The installation of 9 metre turbines located in the lagoon wall in 20m of (chart datum) water.
- The formation of a yacht marina at the most western section of the lagoon, providing berths for 200 vessels, in safe and secure moorings with access to deep water at all times.
Ports will be built into the lagoon wall to house the turbine installation, a ferry dock created, and a sea lock will be built to give access to the marina.
The life of the whole project is expected to be at least 125 years.
The lagoon will have a head capacity of 90 million cubic metres of water, designed to make use of the current tidal range of 14.5m, and the additional 82cm rise in water level expected this century.
The lagoon wall will be constructed from sand and aggregates dredged from the sea bed and the marina basin and then pumped into ‘giant sandbags’ that will be arranged in a pyramid fashion and laid accordingly. They will then be covered with heavy aggregates to the seaward side and lighter aggregates to the landside elevation.
LongBay SeaPower will manage the three stage planning application process to ultimately acquire a Development Consent Order (DCO). LongBay SeaPower is now looking to enter into the next stage of feasibility research, planning, development and design and Crown Estate permissions.
The developer is also seeking funding from public grants and private investors and aims to have preliminary funding in place prior to any research reports being instigated on the project.
It is proposed that private investment and possibly some grant aid assistance be used prior to securing, planning and physical construction finance.
The initial finance will be used to produce an environmental impact assessment, marine water quality assessment, navigation and marine transport assessment, marine ecology and terrestrial ecology report, coastal sediment report, transport and contamination report. Coastal birds and environmental impact will be researched and ultimately a community resilience assessment.
Initial consultations will take place with West Somerset Council and Minehead Town Council, Somerset County Council, Local Enterprise Partnership, REGEN South West and The Crown Estate.
As the project is a National Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), the final planning decision will be made by the Secretary of State.
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