news story

12th June 2008

Government Must Speed up Moves to Harness Severn Tidal Power

Commenting on today’s report on the Severn Barrage, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Steve Webb said:

“It is important that we hit our renewable targets in a cost-effective way, and this report provides valuable information on different strategies.

“But we cannot meet our renewable targets through low cost options alone. We need a huge expansion of renewables and that will mean a combination of different resources.

“The Severn estuary has huge potential for power generation and the Government should speed up its appraisal of the different options so that a decision can be made.

“With the soaring costs of other forms of electricity generation, it is hard to believe that there is no relatively cost-effective way of harnessing the tidal power of the Severn.”