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Just how big the energy prize is in the Severn?
The ultimate prize in the Severn is upwards of
sixteen to
twenty terawatt hours a year;
how much of that can be exploited
is is really the key question because I think it's important
that the realistic assumption about energy from the Severn
need to be those which are unconstrained.
You've been thinking a lot about how we might do that exploitation in the way that kind of
unlocks opportunity for the industry,
unlocks the opportunity for other stakeholders to engage. Just say something
about that.
Yes, we've been looking at a more incremental approach
so that you sustain an energy industry
on the Severn
over multiple projects, starting at a fairly small scale but still big in
energy terms. So six hundred megawatts producing
1.2 terawatts hours per year for example.
Learning from the experience of operating that, that then informs the
the subsequent larger scheme which might be a larger lagoon, or it might be a
tidal fence;
it also allows time for the development of more innovative technologies
which we all know take time, and
but you could see a picture of the Severn say in forty or fifty years
time, of a
number of different projects, different technologies, really
bringing and delivering that sort of fifteen to
twenty
terawatt hours
a year of electricity production from the Severn.
Did I hear you say the kind of proposition for the stepping stones project would be the
largest tidal
lagoon in the world? Yes, the very first one that we're proposing although
there's also Swansea Bay which is 250 mega watts, but if you started
let's say Swansea Bay started and you did stepping stones at six hundred megawatts
stepping stones would be the largest tidal
energy plant in the world.
Would be great symbolic value
value to the UK to have
a tidal power scheme of that size
in the estuary knowing
that there is further potential to develop other lagoons
and tidal fences and tidal stream arrays in that estuary.
The marine energy technology communities
on the industrial side is ready for this?
Yes, we had a meeting with industry a couple of weeks ago drawn from all
sectors of the tidal power industry, and they
certainly saw great value in a more incremental approach.
I think the industry has all
seen the fact that we do numerous
studies on the very large barrage schemes but nothing ever gets built
because the challenges of doing a
very large project like a barrage
which placades an estuary
you know is problematic. It's problematic from a fish perspective, It's problematic from a
navigation perspective and also doing something so large as a first step
means that we do not give ourselves an opportunity to learn from the
experience of developing
tidal power schemes. So there is
much more merit we feel and then the industry group that we got together
agreed with this that
have much more merit in in starting off with some smaller schemes and then
building using that evidence for the evidence base that they create, and forming
subsequent designs and
building larger lagoons and tidal fences thereafter. So, if we get this right
the next step is really exciting for the Severn Estuary for renewable energy
for industry and for jobs? Yes, absolutely and most importantly of all
all of this needs to be done in
tune with the environment
in tune with the environmental interests, in tune with the commercial interests of the Severn. So
really what we are trying to do is to deliver a
potential solution, that all
stakeholders interests are aligned
and the chance then of something being done is very much greater.