The British Hydropower Association (BHA) has renewed its call for tidal range hydropower to be treated as critical national infrastructure, arguing that the UK’s energy planning framework must move beyond a narrow focus on lowest-cost generation and place greater emphasis on resilience, security and long-term value.
In its latest brochure, Tidal Range: Power, Protection, Permanence, the association sets out a vision for tidal range schemes as multi-benefit infrastructure capable of delivering predictable renewable electricity, coastal flood protection and long-term economic regeneration.
The publication comes amid growing debate over the resilience of the future UK electricity system. According to the BHA, current energy planning frameworks, including the Future Energy Scenarios (FES), have been optimised around cost metrics such as Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE), rather than wider system resilience. The association argues that this approach fails to account for increasing risks associated with weather-dependent generation, transmission constraints, declining system inertia, cyber threats and global supply-chain vulnerabilities.
“Tidal range is not simply another renewable technology,” the brochure states. “It is national infrastructure, a strategic asset that strengthens the resilience of our energy system, our economy and our society.”
The BHA highlights tidal range’s unique characteristics, including highly predictable generation driven by lunar cycles rather than weather conditions, asset lifetimes exceeding 100 years, and significant domestic supply-chain content. The association estimates that the UK possesses more than 20 GW of technically viable tidal range resource, concentrated in locations such as the Severn Estuary, Irish Sea and west coast.
Beyond energy generation
The brochure identifies three core benefits of tidal range development: power, protection and permanence.
On the energy side, the technology is presented as a source of firm, predictable generation that can reduce balancing costs, provide grid stability services and support growing electricity demand, particularly from energy-intensive sectors such as data centres.
The BHA also places significant emphasis on flood defence and coastal resilience. Many proposed projects would provide long-term protection for communities, transport infrastructure and industrial assets exposed to rising sea levels and increasingly severe weather events. The association argues that these benefits are often overlooked in conventional energy project appraisals despite their substantial societal value.
A further theme is the potential economic impact of a UK tidal range programme. The report suggests that a pipeline of projects could support domestic manufacturing, marine engineering and civil construction industries, with UK content levels of between 60% and 80%. Long construction periods, combined with operational lifetimes exceeding a century, are also highlighted as opportunities for sustained regional employment and industrial regeneration.
The brochure showcases ten tidal range projects currently at various stages of development, including the West Somerset Lagoon, Mersey Tidal Power, Swansea Tidal Lagoon, Mostyn SeaPower, North Wales Tidal Lagoon, Centre Port UK in The Wash, and concepts in Morecambe Bay and the Solway Firth. Together, the schemes represent many gigawatts of potential installed capacity and a significant contribution to future low-carbon electricity generation.
To unlock investment, the BHA argues that tidal range should be supported through infrastructure financing mechanisms similar to those used for other nationally significant projects. The association points to the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model as a potential route to recognising the wider societal benefits delivered by tidal range, including flood protection and long-term system resilience. The publication concludes that, as the UK pursues its Clean Power ambitions, tidal range should be assessed not solely as an electricity generation technology but as strategic infrastructure capable of delivering energy security, climate resilience and economic growth over multiple generations.
