ICE president Jean Venables yesterday criticised the government study into tidal power in the Severn estuary for lacking ambition.
Venables told NCE that the shortlist of five schemes being considered by government, confirmed in January, lacked ambition by failing to back the largest of the barrage options.
Speaking at the joint ICE South West and Wales regions' Severn Tidal Energy Conference in Bristol, Venables said the proposed Minehead to Aberthaw barrage, which would have cost £29bn to build and produced 25TWh per year, should have been kept in consideration for the substantial carbon savings that it offered.
"[The Government] has ruled out Minehead to Aberthaw on cost grounds yet if they want to reduce carbon emissions they should keep it in the shortlist, rather than ruling it out at such an early stage," said Venables.
"If the Treasury continues to prioritise projects on a money-only basis we will end up with the cheapest [forms of electricity generation] rather than those that will help the UK meet the 2020 [15% renewable energy] and 2050 [80% carbon emission reduction targets]."
The Government is currently in the middle of a two-year feasibility study into tidal power in the Severn Estuary.
Following scoping studies by a consortium of consultants led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has published a shortlist of five schemes to be investigated in greater depth for the next year, following a public consultation on its proposals that will close on April 23.
The shortlist is: the £20bn Cardiff-Weston barrage with an 8.6GW generating capacity; the Shoots Barrage, with a 1.05GW generating capacity; the Beachley Barrage with a generating capacity of 625MW; the Bridgewater Bay tidal lagoon, 1.36GW; and Fleming Lagoon, also 1.36GW.
Venables told NCE that the shortlist of five schemes being considered by government, confirmed in January, lacked ambition by failing to back the largest of the barrage options.
Speaking at the joint ICE South West and Wales regions' Severn Tidal Energy Conference in Bristol, Venables said the proposed Minehead to Aberthaw barrage, which would have cost £29bn to build and produced 25TWh per year, should have been kept in consideration for the substantial carbon savings that it offered.
"[The Government] has ruled out Minehead to Aberthaw on cost grounds yet if they want to reduce carbon emissions they should keep it in the shortlist, rather than ruling it out at such an early stage," said Venables.
"If the Treasury continues to prioritise projects on a money-only basis we will end up with the cheapest [forms of electricity generation] rather than those that will help the UK meet the 2020 [15% renewable energy] and 2050 [80% carbon emission reduction targets]."
The Government is currently in the middle of a two-year feasibility study into tidal power in the Severn Estuary.
Following scoping studies by a consortium of consultants led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has published a shortlist of five schemes to be investigated in greater depth for the next year, following a public consultation on its proposals that will close on April 23.
The shortlist is: the £20bn Cardiff-Weston barrage with an 8.6GW generating capacity; the Shoots Barrage, with a 1.05GW generating capacity; the Beachley Barrage with a generating capacity of 625MW; the Bridgewater Bay tidal lagoon, 1.36GW; and Fleming Lagoon, also 1.36GW.
Source: The New Civil Engineer
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