One project after another: Wales tidal lagoon 2.0

Not long after Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project officially reached the end of the road, scheme for a new tidal lagoon in Wales rolled out.

The company behind the project, Mostyn SeaPower, is planning a £590-million ($750 million) tidal lagoon which clould supply low carbon electricity to power about 82,000 homes in North Wales.

The project would see the 6.7-kilometre long lagoon, extending from Port of Mostyn to Point of Ayr in Flintshire.

According to Port of Mostyn, parent company of Mostyn SeaPower, if the new tidal lagoon project gets the green light, it would create 300 jobs during the construction phase and up to 30 permanent posts.

The news came shortly after Swansea Bay tidal lagoon plans sank on development consent order (DCO) expiring end-June this year.

The £1.3bn Swansea Tidal Lagoon suffered a major blow in 2018 when the UK government rejected the proposal, stating that it did not not meet the requirements for value for money.

However, the plan had already been awarded its DCO when it was shelved, hence the lagoon still had a chance to move forward with private investment.

Planning consent for the lagoon, through a DCO, granted to infrastructure schemes categorised as being of national significance, was first awarded in June 2015 by the UK Government, with a five-year window to comply with its conditions and start construction work.

Project developer Tidal Power Plc kicked off onsite works just one day before the DCO was due to expire.

By doing this, Tidal Power claims it had saved existing planning permissions from expiring.

However, Swansea Council was quoted saying that Tidal Power had not fulfilled the conditions linked the the DCO, since it failed to secure decommissioning approval, marine licence as well as a sea bed licence, meaning that the above mentioned work in ‘unlawful’.

Despite the setback in the south of Wales, Mostyn SeaPower believes that its tidal lagoon project could provide a major boost for the regional economy and play a key role in helping North Wales’ recovery from the Covid-19-caused economic slump .

To that end, the company said it plans to use local workforce and suppliers wherever possible.

“During the construction phase in the order of 300 jobs will be created at the port and further employment will be secured in local companies providing quarrying, mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, steel supply and fabrication services,“ said Jim O’Toole, the managing director of the Port of Mostyn.

Being advertised as a relatively small-scale renewables development, Mostyn SeaPower expects the scheme can pave the way for larger tidal power projects at other locations along the Welsh coastline.

The company also claims that the Dee Estuary is an ‘ideal’ location for the project because it has one of the highest tidal movements in the UK as well as natural deep water for the installation of the turbines.

The project would see eight 16 megawatt turbines which should generate 298 gigawatt hours of electricity annually from the lagoon which will surround an area of more than 12 square kilometres with a design life of more than 100 years.

Regardles of running out of time to secure all the neccessary approvals, Tidal Power Plc began material operations.

Specifically, the contractor on site, Alun Griffiths, was carring out works, which according to Swansea Council has been taking place without full planning consent.

Tidal Power Plc said it responded to Swansea Council to explain the lawful basis upon which the project has begun, and according to the company, works continued unhindered thereafter.

However, local reports claim that the council remained firm on its decision and has also taken further independent legal advice to see how to proceed on the matter.

At the moment of this publishing, both sides have remained silent to our inquiries, so we are going to have to wait and see how this plays out.

Mostyn has been carrying out preliminary work, including environmental and ecological studies, for four years and the lagoon will be designed to maintain navigational access for shipping.

The Port subsidiary has been working with engineering consultants Ban Nuttall and environmental experts ABPMer and reportedly it already has a deal in place with the National Grid for the electricity to be used by the nearby Connah’s Quay power station.

It anticipates application to the UK Government for a development consent order to go forward by the end of 2022, and the go-ahead a year later.

According to O’Toole, the construction time for the lagoon wall, turbine housings and sluices will take approximately four years.

The turbines should be ready in two years, with the manufacturing carried out in conjunction with the wall construction.

They will be assembled at the port and will be installed simultaneously with the lagoon wall.

Finally, if everything goes according to plan, we could see the turbines in action by mid-2027.