Hendry review likely to support Swansea tidal lagoon

 
The review which assessed tidal lagoon energy in UK is likely to be in favor of the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon scheme, UK media report.

The UK government-commissioned report, to be published this Thursday, January 12, 2017, will presumably be in favor of the proposed £1.3 billion Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project, The Guardian reports citing unnamed sources.

The long-awaited report has been commissioned in February last year with the aim to assess the feasibility and practicality of tidal lagoon energy in the UK.

The review was led by the former UK energy minister Charles Hendry who submitted the final report to Greg Clark, UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on December 6, 2016.

Hendry said: “In the course of the review I visited Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield. This enabled me to speak directly to people who would be involved in, or affected by proposals for tidal lagoons. I had active and expert engagement from across industry and in particular from the team at Tidal Lagoon Power; and I received almost 200 responses to my call for evidence. I have taken account of all of this information in coming to my conclusions.”

The developer behind the lagoon, Tidal Lagoon Power, is currently engaged in talks with the UK government regarding the subsidies for the project, and the results of the review could shape the UK government’s response.

Swansea Bay tidal lagoon is considered to be a ‘pathfinder’ for the tidal lagoon industry as Tidal Lagoon Power is also looking to develop tidal lagoon plants in Newport, Cardiff Bay, West Cumbria, Colwyn Bay and Bridgwater Bay. These lagoons will generate cheaper power as they are larger in size, according to Tidal Lagoon Power.

Swansea Bay 320MW tidal lagoon project has a design life of 120 years and a net annual power output of 400GWh. It is expected to power around 155,000 homes, or over 90% of homes in the Swansea Bay area.