Tidal range could be “the missing part of the jigsaw on clean energy”.
The comment came during a hearing of the UK’s Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee, which met experts who recommended that UK Government harness the tidal energy of the Severn Estuary.
Last month the Severn Estuary Commission recommended that a tidal lagoon be developed which could generate a large amount of low carbon electricity as part of a commercial demonstration project that could create 2-3% of the UK’s total energy supply.
Three commissioners including the Chair, Dr Andrew Garrad CBE, took part in a broadcast session called “Tidal Power and the Severn” which looked to understand the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts of developing tidal range energy in the estuary.
During the hearing, one of the committee members commented that tidal range could be “the missing part of the jigsaw on clean energy” as part of questions around habitat legislation and job creation.
With UK electricity demand set to more than double by 2050, the commissioners repeated their call to the committee for urgent investment to explore this source of energy.
The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee is a cross-party group of parliamentarians which has a key role in scrutinising UK Government energy policy.
Alongside the commissioners, the committee also spoke to Sarah Williams-Gardener, Chair of the Western Gateway, Shaun Gaffey, Senior Planner at RSPB Cymru, and Dr Athanasios Angeloudis, Reader in Environmental Fluid Mechanics at School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
This select committee hearing follows the launch of the commission’s recommendations in March. In these recommendations, the commission concluded that tidal range energy in the Severn Estuary could deliver much needed, predictable, renewable electricity.
Dr Andrew Garrad, Chair of the Severn Estuary Commission, said:
“I am very grateful to the committee for their time to discuss this important issue.
“Our commission met over 500 stakeholders and over 200 organisations over the last year to help come to our conclusions. Ours was the latest in a long series of commissions and studies, but our approach has been different to our predecessors and, as a result we are confident that our recommendations provide a practical way forward to make sure we can harness much needed renewable energy from one of the world’s highest tidal ranges.
“Given that demand for clean electricity in the UK is set to increase rapidly, we need action now to make sure we can meet that demand in the future.”
Sarah Williams-Gardener, Chair of the Western Gateway, said:
“The power of the Severn Estuary has long been known. Despite this, nothing has ever been built to harness this natural energy.
“With rising sea levels and an increasing need for localised low carbon energy, we need Government to act now to harness this incredible one-of-a-kind resource for the benefit of our future generations.
“I am grateful to the work of the commission and to the committee for their time. With their recommendations, our local leaders are looking to unite to ensure we can take these forward and I call on the UK Government to pledge their support.”
The Severn Estuary has the second highest tidal ranges in the world with a 14m difference between low and high tide at its peak. In the past, a tidal barrage has been presented as a potential solution for harnessing this natural form of predictable energy, but this option was ruled out by the commission for its high environmental impact.
