Tidal lagoon sector worth over £70 billion to UK industry says report, while tender launched for turbine plant
3 October 2016
The potential value of the tidal lagoon sector to UK industry could be over £70 billion, a new report from Tidal Lagoon Power suggests.
The ‘Ours to Own’ report – available at tidallagoonpower.com - charts a move from first mover to mass manufacture. It sets out how Britain’s first mover advantage in the production of major components for tidal lagoon turbines, generators and turbine housings at Swansea Bay can be sustained and grown as the tidal lagoon sector scales in the UK and worldwide.
“British industry sees a number of attractions in tidal lagoons – predictable energy generation to maintain security of supply, the potential for long term cost reduction with deployment at scale, and significant opportunities for British manufacturing during construction”, commented Jeremy Nicholson, Director, Energy Intensive Users Group.
The report identifies the immediate opportunity is for the UK’s engineering, construction, steel and manufacturing industries to win contracts totalling over £800m at Swansea Bay and over £6bn for the first project to employ its template at full-scale at Cardiff.
In addition to significant value captured through project design, services and operations, as well as more than half a billion pounds of investment in new UK industrial facilities, the report finds the potential value of the tidal lagoon sector to UK industry to be:
- Domestic market for Made in Britain tidal lagoon turbines and generators = £17billion.
- Domestic market for Made in Britain tidal lagoon turbine housings = £24billion.
- Exports to international tidal lagoon market = £30billion
“This report captures the hard work of today’s industrialists to ensure tidal lagoons are British-engineered, that the manufacturing supply chain is British, and that we seize and own what can be a seventy billion pound sector for this nation. It is an extraordinary opportunity,” explained Mark Shorrock, Tidal Lagoon Power’s chief executive.
“180 years ago Brunel built the Great Western Railway and we still celebrate that British manufacturing and engineering success today. A roll out of tidal lagoons will be of equally significant scale and will also benefit our country for over a century”.
While launching the report, the company also announced the launch of a tender for the design/construction of a new £22m Turbine Manufacturing & Pre-Assembly Plant in Swansea Bay.
The 100m long Turbine Manufacturing & Pre-Assembly Plant will be located between the Kings and Queens Dock at Swansea Bay, following a competitive tender of potential locations for the facility last year. The facility will receive major turbine components from manufacturers across Wales and wider Britain, with all machining and pre-assembly of the sixteen 7.2m runner diameter turbines required by the pathfinder tidal lagoon taking place on site. The facility, future proofed for exponential market growth, will initially employ up to 100 skilled workers, with an additional 150 project workers accommodated in an onsite office welfare area. Further tender details are available at www.sell2wales.gov.wales/
