Swansea Bay tidal lagoon price questioned at Commons

During the meeting in the House of Commons, members of parliament raised questions over the power price for the proposed £1 bln Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project.

UK Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom was asked whether she thinks that the Government’s guarantee to pay for the energy that will cost three times the current market price is a good use of public money, and does she think that it is good for UK’s energy competitiveness.

Andrea Leadsom pointed out that diverse set of energy sources was vital to UK’s energy security and decarbonization, and also to ensure keeping the costs down.

“The Government are looking into the different opportunities presented by different technologies. The price of the lagoon project is a long way away from being agreed, but we are keen to promote new ideas and new technologies, and we want the United Kingdom to be at the forefront of that,” Leadsom said.

Another member of parliament asked Leadsom about the steps the government took to ensure the tidal lagoon project is not held up in Brussels.

Andrea Leadsom said in a response: “We are very focused on removing all the potential obstacles to the project, including by having conversations with the European Commission on state aid issues. Our foot is firmly on the accelerator and we will do everything we can to support the project.”

Earlier this year, Citizens Advice, a UK consumer charity service, published a Consultation response to the call for evidence regarding Swansea Bay tidal lagoon proposal.

Citizens Advice deemed the subsidized price of £168 for MW/h, with contract duration of 35 years that Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon developers are thought to be seeking, as ‘appalling value for money’ much higher than the current market price of power.

The Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project was granted the planning consent by the UK Secretary of State, Amber Rudd, on June 9.

The 320 MW tidal lagoon project, developed by Tidal Lagoon Power, has a design life of 120 years and a net annual power output of over 500 GW/h – enough to to meet the annual electricity requirement of over 155.000 homes.

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Image: facebook/Andrea Leadsom