news story

26th March 2007

West MP Backs Calls For Severn Barrage Assessment

Click here to read my blog thoughts on this issue.

Following a meeting at Westminster on Monday (26th March), Northavon Lib Dem MP Steve Webb has given his backing to calls for a reappraisal of the case for harnessing the tidal power of the Severn to generate electricity. The Westminster meeting of MPs and experts was addressed by the Severn Tidal Power Group, a consortium of major construction and engineering companies, who are pressing for the Government's forthcoming energy white paper to include a new assessment of the options for generating power from the Severn.

During the presentation, MPs were told that a barrage scheme could generate around 5% of the UK's entire electricity needs, and could create tens of thousands of permanent jobs in the Severnside area. The meeting was told that a similar barrage in France had run consistently for over forty years, and with growing concern both about global warming and about security of power supplies, the availability of a proven source of domestic energy needed to be pursued.

Speaking after the meeting, Steve Webb said:

"The last full-blown appraisal of the options for tidal power from the Severn was in the 1980s, and the world has changed considerably since then. We urgently need to explore major new sources of renewable energy, and it is therefore vital that the Government commissions a full independent assessment of the options for the Severn at the earliest possible opportunity.

"I fully recognise both the potential environmental benefits of a barrage scheme, in terms of the generation of large quantities of clean electricity, but also the concerns about the impact that a barrage could have on the estuary and its wildlife. These issues need to be fully and independently assessed as a matter of urgency, and I will be calling on the Government to do include such a commitment in its energy white paper. Any such assessment should include not only barrage schemes, but also other forms of wave power, including the option of tidal lagoons".