The government has pledged to work with the tidal range sector to explore and take advantage of opportunities provided by tidal lagoons and barrages to reduce the country’s emissions and increase energy security. Tidal range involves building a barrage across a river or estuary, or a lagoon in a bay, then using the tides to create a water level difference on each side.

The promise came as a result of a Parliamentary debate on the topic held on 10 January. It said it will now work with the sector to model the potential benefits and collect an evidence base to build upon.

The motion was brought forward by Labour MP for Birkenhead, Mick Whitley, who reiterated the potential of tidal range projects in the UK and added that “the government’s ambition in supporting the development of new tidal range projects has been sorely lacking”. He mentioned that the sticking point for tidal range projects has been the government’s insistence that they provide value for money.

Whitley brought up the 320MW, £1.3bn Swansea Bay tidal lagoon, which was the only tidal range project that has been granted a development consent order (DCO) in the UK. However, that was granted in 2015 and because work didn’t start on site within five years of receiving the DCO, the permission lapsed. Whitley cited University of Birmingham research that suggested that the Swansea Bay lagoon would have made a return on the investment.

“The Government’s decision not to provide support for the Swansea bay project seems to have been seriously misjudged,” Whitley added. “It has deprived us of a credible pathfinder project.”

He continued on to say that, considering the crucial role that tidal range could play in the battle against climate breakdown, “the fundamental question of value for money needs revisiting”. Witley continued: “Principally, that means adopting a whole-systems approach when assessing cost-effectiveness. The levelised cost of energy can be a useful tool, but it can also be a blunt instrument when it comes to gauging the comparative costs of renewable and low-carbon energy sources that fails to take into consideration the additional costs of solar and wind generation caused by grid transmission constraints, rebalancing and storage.

“It also fails to account for the fact that, uniquely for a renewable, tidal energy is a timetabled predictable resource, giving it an important role to play when seasonal factors interrupt supply from solar and wind.”

Whitley then moved on to specifically discuss the Mersey Tidal power project, a project in the Mersey Estuary being developed by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). A document released last November suggested it would be a 700MW capacity scheme that would also link the Wirral and Liverpool while providing protection against sea level rise.

The government’s response in the debate came from parliamentary undersecretary of state for energy security and net zero Andrew Bowie.

“To deliver [emissions] targets and provide long-term energy security, we must consider all of the tools available to us,” he said. “Tidal range […] provides yet another domestic energy source to our growing list of renewables. It also shows promise as a large-scale, fully predictable and non-weather-dependent source of power.”

Bowie said that “officials in the Department are […] aggressively exploring the options for tidal range in the future by working with the sector to model the potential energy-system benefits of tidal range and establish an evidence base to build upon”.

He then pledged that “officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will continue to engage closely with the sector throughout this process and will communicate their findings, when appropriate, to the sector and indeed to Members of this House”.

He added: “As a nation surrounded by water, we will continue to work with the sector, and with Members interested, to explore and take advantage of the opportunities presented by tidal range to provide clean and secure renewable energy.”

Read the full story in New Civil Engineer here.  The Tidal Range Energy Generation debate on Wednesday 10 January 2024 can be read in Hansard here.