Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) has published a paper setting out its proposals to develop the Mersey Tidal Power Project and calling for explicit Government Policy support.

The funding and support required would be similar to that seen recently to kick start Hydrogen and provided for Hydrogen and CCuS FEED studies. “All new large renewable technology in the UK have received funding support to get going - tidal range needs that same support now,” the paper says.

According to the Authority, Mersey Tidal is the largest publicly-led renewable project in the UK, looking to deploy giga-watt scale Tidal Range.

The paper says the Mersey Tidal scheme based on a barrage solution would be a first of a kind project in the UK, and involve constructing a barrage with turbines, sluices and marine navigation locks in the Mersey. The engineering, manufacturing and construction would also be the largest project in the North West.

The LCRCA says that in order for tidal range development to progress, in line with the UK’s national need for net zero electricity, and for the creation of a new sector of renewable energy with up to 10 GW of capacity, the following enablers are needed:

Explicit Government Policy support for Tidal Range

• Tidal range must be an explicit technology in UK Energy Strategy and the National Planning Statements (NPS) to show the commitment to the sector and to benefit from the review of the planning system timeline for major energy infrastructure.

Decision to support Development activity and funding – as a new sector within clean energy

• The creation of tidal range task force to look at barrage and lagoon schemes.
• More collaboration from across Government to promote tidal range.
• Recognition of international experience and tried and tested technology

Development of a Tidal Range Financing Bill

• Recognising that a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model, as proposed for Sizewell C, is more appropriate than Contract for Difference (CFD) as the right mechanism for 120-year tidal range operating asset.

Site development lease approach

• A common approach is needed with The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster to sea-bed leases for a barrage or lagoon, without the prohibitive, high-entry costs seen by Offshore Wind in recent sea-bed leasing.

Mature assessment needed of how Tidal Range can be part of UK energy mix

The paper states:

“We need a mature assessment of how Tidal Range can be part of the UK energy mix, not just for today, but for over a century….

“The operating life of tidal range projects is similar to hydropower, which exceeds 120 years (over four times that of wind farms and twice that of a nuclear plant).

“Tidal range schemes also bring significant co-benefits that other schemes do not bring (such as flood defence, coastal protection, active transport connectivity, and tourism).

“The Mersey Tidal power project is regarded as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and will progress under the Development Consent Order (DCO) process and in line with National Policy Statement (NPS EN1) which sees the potential of a place for Tidal Range in the UK energy mix.

For Mersey Tidal to progress, the LCRCA is also calling for a decision to support Mersey Tidal development activity as the leading project in tidal range in the UK, together with securing development grant funding support for Mersey Tidal.

LCRCA progresses collaboration with South Korean state water company on tidal power

The LCRCA is also separately progressing its collaboration with South Korea state water company Water Resources Corporation (K-Water) on tidal power.

In November 2023 representatives from K-Water visited the Liverpool city region to attend a tidal symposium for technical discussions on the Mersey Tidal Power Project.

Prior to that in December 2022 Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram signed an historic Memorandum of Agreement with Jeong kyeongyun, Senior Executive Vice President of K-water to co-operate and share lessons that could help the region develop the world’s largest tidal power scheme on the River Mersey.

K-water agreed to share its tidal power knowledge with the Authority. The agreement will see K-water and the Combined Authority working closely together to explore possibilities for tidal power.

The move was the latest stage of engagement between both organisations, which began with meetings at COP26 in Glasgow and continued with a visit by Mersey Tidal’s director to Sihwa Lake and Daejon in South Korea in May 2022.

K-water built, owns and operates the Sihwa Lake tidal range power scheme, currently the world’s largest tidal power scheme. The tidal range power plant has been operational since 2011 and generates 552GWh of clean, green energy every year.

The LCRCA paper also cites the EDF tidal range plant at La Rance, near St Malo, France as an illustration of a tried and tested scheme. The plant, which has 24 turbines each of 10 MW capacity, has now been operating for over 50 years since 1966 and is the second largest tidal range station in the world. The scheme is 750m long, generates over 500GWh of electricity each year and provides power for over 200,000 people.

LCRCA hosted last month’s tidal symposium which was attended by colleagues from South Korea, led by Jang Byeong-hoon, Executive Vice-President of K-Water,.

Speaking at the start of the visit, Martin Land, Director of the Mersey Tidal Power Project at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said:

“We have a tidal symposium with our guests from South Korea, K-water, who operate the largest tidal range scheme in the world. They’re here all week, mainly talking tidal range but also talking energy, low carbon, and innovation, which is what we’re all about in the Liverpool City Region.

“I think the brilliant thing about tidal range is that we’re trying to build something that will operate for more than 100 years. So it’s not just about net zero for 2050, it’s about net zero for 2150 and, of course, our Liverpool City Region ambition is to be there by 2040. But we really need government and industry to come with us on this now.

“We’re not the first people to do this but we want to be the first in the UK, so we look at the people who’ve already built it. We’re learning from what they know now, what they would do differently. It is that knowledge that will make us do better. It is tried and tested.”

Kate Gilmartin, Chief Executive of the British Hydropower Association, who chaired the symposium, commented:

“I think there are multiple co-benefits of delivering something like the Mersey Tidal Scheme. Not only are we thinking about the supply chain and the jobs and the skills, it is also about local deliverable low carbon energy and having an impact on affordability for consumers.”

Frances Fernandes, Managing Director, Infrastructure Matters, attending the symposium, said:

“We have no choice in moving towards a clean energy transition and Mersey Tidal has the ability to bring massive benefits, not only for energy production but also the whole regeneration and growth of this part of the world and wider in the UK.”

Over the last two years, the authority has undertaken early technical work to develop the potential scope of the Mersey Tidal Power scheme, which could be up and running within a decade, playing a huge role in the region’s push to net zero carbon by 2040 – at least a decade ahead of national targets.

It is calculated that the Mersey Tidal Power scheme could have the potential to generate up to four times the energy of all of the wind turbines in Liverpool Bay - enough to power up to one million homes.

The idea of harnessing the tidal power of the River Mersey is not new – the first plans for a tidal barrage across the Mersey were produced back in 1924, with reports and studies dating back to the 1980s. 

Click here to download Mersey Tidal Power - It's Time for Tidal