Tidal Lagoon Power, the company behind the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project has welcomed comments by the Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood, to the effect that the project would play a vital role in developing the Welsh economy.
With a baseload capacity of 250MW the lagoon, more accurately a series of lagoons, will be able to generate power equivalent to Swansea’s entire domestic consumption producing baseload electricity for 16 hours per day using both ebb and flood tides. It will also save over 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year over its design life of over 100 years.
“Wales needs to become early adopters and developers of improved technologies” said Leanne Wood. Denmark took early advantage of the economic benefits from wind power, Germany from solar power. Wales has vast opportunities to produce hydro-power. Pioneering technologies like the proposed tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay which could provide energy for more than 100,000 homes as well as a pilot for further developments.”
The project is worth £650 million and could be connected to the National Grid by 2017.
“Our vision is to deliver 10,000MW of power from the tidal range in the UK and thus change the energy mix to home-grown, low carbon energy that creates local jobs, cheap power and local long term amenities for the communities who host the lagoons” said Technical Director Ton Fijen of Tidal Lagoon Power. “We know that there is an available 10,000 MW of potential sites in the UK alone that are suitable for tidal lagoon development. The Swansea project will hopefully be the first in a network of lagoons around the UK coastline, driving a critical change in our energy mix with low cost, low carbon electricity sources that are sustainable long-term.”
Mr Fijen added that the detailed plans for the project are now being finalised prior to formal consultation in summer 2013. The intention is to submit an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate in the late autumn of 2013.
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