Ecotricity has presented the UK government with two alternative tidal lagoon proposals, ahead of a joint select committee review of the the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project.
The two new plans unveiled last week are in the Solway Firth, one on the English side of the border and the other on the Scottish side. Both projects would generate as much electricity as the Swansea Bay proposal, but at half the cost to build, claims Ecotricity.
MPs on the business and Welsh affairs committee began taking evidence last Wednesday from a range of participants, including ministers, Charles Hendry (author of the Hendry report) and Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Lagoon Power, the company behind the Swansea project.
Swansea Bay would have an installed capacity of 320 MW and would cost around £1 billion to build. Although it has been granted planning permission, its development has stalled over the reluctance of the government to support the scheme with a contract for difference (CfD).
Ecotricity have partnered with Tidal Electric – the originators of the tidal lagoon concept, to develop the Solway sites; and has signaling to the government that they are ready to take part in a competitive process, to ensure value for public money.
