Swansea Council leaders have met with UK’s Secretary for Energy to urge the government to give green light for the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project before Christmas.
Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, and his Deputy Clive Lloyd, met with Greg Clark, the UK government’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on October 30, 2017, to make the case for a tidal lagoon go-ahead as soon as possible.
At the meeting, Stewart and Lloyd also encouraged Clark to consider the huge benefit the construction of the tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay would have on the steel industry in South Wales.
Stewart said: “It was positive meeting, where we took the opportunity to convey to Mr Clark the overwhelming level of public support for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon scheme across South Wales as a whole.
“We talked about growing Welsh government support for the project, also dispelling myths about the tidal lagoon ‘strike price’ by emphasizing that it’s lower than nuclear and approved off-shore wind projects.
“But investor confidence in the project means it’s time critical, so we’ve urged Mr Clark and the UK government to give the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon the green light before Christmas. It’s now been 10 months since the UK Government’s own independent inspector, Charles Hendry, said this project is a ‘no regrets’ option, so I’m calling on Mr Clark and the Prime Minister to approve the project as soon as possible.”
Stewart added that a UK-government go-ahead for the project would be a game-changer for Swansea Bay because the 320MW scheme would open up many thousands of jobs, generate zero carbon electricity for 155,000 homes for well over a century.
Also, according to Stewart, the lagoon would considerably boost Welsh steel industry and lead to a global export industry in Swansea, with the production of specialist turbines and other tidal lagoon technology.