Minehead 'tidal reef' fails to make Government shortlist for Severn estuary renewable energy plans

A SHORTLIST of five schemes for creating renewable energy with tidal power in the Bristol Channel has been drawn up by the Government - but it does not include a proposed ‘tidal reef’ between Minehead and the Welsh coast.
Instead, a controversial Severn Barrage from Weston-super-Mare to Cardiff heads the shortlist, on which the Government will now consult during the next three months.
Also included on the preferred list was a Bridgwater Bay Lagoon scheme next to Hinkley Point nuclear power station.
Lagoons are radical new proposals which would impound a section of the estuary without damming it.
The scheme has been proposed off the shoreline between a location east of Hinkley Point and Weston-super-Mare.
It would cost an estimated £3.8 billion to construct and could generate 1.36 gigawatts of electricity per year, or nearly one per cent of the UK's total demand, while saving 1.1MT of CO² emissions.
The Government said it would be the best-perfoming of the Bristol Channel lagoon proposals in terms of cost of energy.
The shortlist was announced today by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband following a 12-month Government consultation on a longlist of 10 options for producing electricity from the tidal range of the Severn.
The longlist included a 12-mile tidal reef idea put forward by Cornish engineers Joseph Evans and Sons Ltd which would run from Minehead to Aberthaw.
Evans and Co owner Rupert Evans said the tidal reef would cost less than a barrage, have less environmental and economic impact, and generate more power more reliably.
It was an alternative favoured by campaign group Stop the Barrage NOW, which has expressed fears a barrage would devastate the estuary’s environment and wildlife.
However, the Government said tidal reef technology was not yet ready, although it could be revisited before any final decision was taken.
The Cardiff-Weston Barrage option would dam the estuary from Brean Down, near Weston-super-Mare to Lavernock Point, near Cardiff.
It would cost an estimated £20.9 billion but would have a capacity of more than 8.6 gigawatts, meeting nearly five per cent of the UK’s electricity demand.
The three other shortlisted schemes were:
Shoots Barrage at a narrower point further upstream, spanning the estuary near English Stones, which would produce 1.05 gigawatts – about equal to a large fossil fuel plant.
Beachley Barrage - the smallest barrage on the shortlist - just above the Wye River, generating 625 megawatts.
Fleming Lagoon, an impoundment off the Welsh shoreline between Newport and the Severn road crossings which could also generate 1.36 gigawatts.
Mr Miliband said: “The five schemes shortlisted today are what we believe can be feasible, but this does not mean we have lost sight of others.”
He said public consultation would continue on all 10 long and shortlisted schemes until April 23.
Mr Miliband said: “Fighting climate change is the biggest long-term challenge we face and we must look to use the UK’s own natural resources to generate clean, green electricity.
“The Severn estuary has massive potential to help achieve our climate change and renewable energy targets.
“We want to see how that potential compares against the other options for meeting our goals.
“The largest proposal to harness the power of the tides on the shortlist could save as much carbon dioxide as all the residential emissions from Wales.”

• Our images show (TOP) a map of the 10 longlist schemes and (BELOW) the sluice and turbine caissons of a lagoon. Images submitted.

Barrage campaigners call on Government to 'come clean' over jobs and economic impact

CAMPAIGNERS against a proposed Severn Barrage are calling on London-based civil servants and consultants to ‘come clean’ over the economic impact of such a project on the area’s maritime industry.
The Stop the Barrage NOW campaign wants to see reports published which it claims reveal the ‘true costs’ of a proposed barrage (artist's impression shown) across the River Severn.
The call follows meetings organised by the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study Group, a team of civil servants based in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, to brief stakeholders.
Analysts from consultancy DTZ, which is carrying out an economic impact assessment of different options for the barrage, are alleged to have said during the meetings that a Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare barrage would cost thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of pounds to the regional economy.
Ports and other maritime businesses in the Westcountry were said to be extremely worried about such a prospect.
However, neither DTZ nor the study group has allowed them comment on, or even to see, the economic impact assessment report before the Government decides in January on a shortlist of renewable energy options to take forward.
Ten potential schemes are currently being looked at, including conventional barrages, tidal fences, tidal lagoons - and a tidal reef.
The 12-mile tidal reef idea has been put forward by Cornish engineers Joseph Evans and Sons Ltd and would run from Minehead to Wales.
Evans and Co owner Rupert Evans said the tidal reef would cost less than a barrage, have less environmental and economic impact, and generate more power more reliably.
It is an alternative favoured by the Stop the Barrage NOW campaign, which says the reef, lagoons - possibly built ‘sequentially to achieve the maximum environmentally benign energy extraction’ - a tidal fence (described as a ‘compromise between conservation, commercial interests and renewable targets’), and wind farms at sea would all be better options than an ‘all or nothing’ barrage.

Bird charity backs Minehead reef as greenest option for Severn Estuary tidal power

A CORNISH company’s plan to build a ‘tidal reef’ from Minehead to Wales has won the backing of charity the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Engineering firm Joseph Evans and Sons Ltd, of Launceston, has proposed a 12-mile ‘Severn Tidal Reef’ (illustrated, right, and below) as an alternative to a 10-mile barrage from Weston-super-Mare to Cardiff.
The RSPB asked engineering consultancy Atkins to look at the feasibility of a ‘greener’ alternative to the barrage.
Now, the Atkins study has shown a reef a would be less damaging to the environment, would generate more power than a barrage, and would also be cheaper to build.
It found a reef would hold back about 6 ft 6 in of water without altering tidal patterns as much as would a barrage.
The Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare barrage is claimed to be able to generate 17,000GW of clean energy each year, equivalent to nearly five per cent of the UK’s electricity needs.
However, the research for the RSPB concluded the reef would produce 20,000GW of electricity while also costing about £2 billion less to construct.
Both the barrage and the reef would generate electricity as water flowed through turbines, but the reef would not hold back the full height of the tide as would a barrage.
The reef would also generate electricity for longer periods than the barrage, making it better able to meet peak demand times for electricity.
The RSPB said it preferred a reef because it would keep intact most of the estuary’s bird feeding grounds, while its slower-moving turbines would reduce danger to migrating salmon and eels.
Evans and Co owner Rupert Evans said: “It is much more in tune to the way the estuary works.
“Its construction would mean far less road traffic because of rail connections, and would require less material and cost significantly less than other tidal options or nuclear power.
“It is a compromise which works, it is considerably more efficient than tidal stream turbines but does not have the environmental impact that great monolithic barrages have.”
RSPB conservation director Mark Avery said: “The Government must crack the problem of how to use the Severn’s tidal power without harming its wildlife.
“We already know a Cardiff-Weston barrage would cost far more than almost any other form of green energy and seriously damage sites protected by law.
“A tidal reef could reign in that damage, cost the taxpayer much less, and be built more quickly.”
Professor Rod Rainey, who prepared the report for the RSPB, said: “We believe this scheme could be more powerful but less costly than other plans being put forward, particularly the Cardiff to Weston barrage.”
The Government and the Welsh Assembly began a feasibility study into harnessing the estuary’s tidal power in January, and consultation is expected to begin next year on which projects should be shortlist.
Ten schemes are being looked at, which include conventional barrages, tidal fences, tidal lagoons, and a tidal reef.
A group of 10 environmental organisations has been opposing the idea of a barrage because they believe renewable energy could be generated more cheaply using other technology.

Campaign to lobby for alternative tidal energy schemes

A SURVEY has found many people in the Westcountry were unaware of proposals to build a tidal barrage across the Severn Estuary.
A huge 37 per cent of people said they were ‘totally unaware’ of the plans to create a tidal power-generating barrage from the Somerset coast to Wales.
A vast majority of those questioned - 85 per cent - were unaware such a barrage would generate power for less than six hours a day.
Only one-quarter believed that the extra cost of a barrage - almost 10 times as much as a new coal-fired power station - would be worth the expenditure.
The findings came from an independent survey commissioned by organisations and individuals campaigning to persuade the Government to focus on alternative tidal energy schemes in the estuary.
They believe plans for a barrage across the entire estuary from the Westcountry to Wales should be abandoned due to the high economic and environmental impact - already highlighted in a recent report from Frontier Economics.
The campaigners are also extremely concerned that a barrage, despite its expense, would not provide a secure power supply to the region because it would only generate power for six hours a day.
They support a range of alternatives, such as wind farms at sea, lagoons, or a tidal reef from Minehead to Wales as suggested by a Cornish engineering firm, Joseph Evans and Sons Ltd.
Over the next few months the Stop the Barrage NOW campaign will lobby to persuade the Government and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) that a barrage is not economically or environmentally viable.
Campaigners want any form of barrage to be excluded from a shortlist of proposals to generate renewable energy from the Severn, due to be published later this month.
Stuart Ballard, chairman of Save Our Severn, which supports the Stop the Barrage NOW campaign, said: “Very little has been done to tell the public in the Westcountry about the plans for a Severn Barrage, even though it would have a massive impact on the region.
“We want to inform the public and ensure that there is a proper debate about the consequences of building a barrage across the Severn Estuary.
“While people are generally in favour of renewable energy, they clearly believe the cost of a barrage is too high.
“And despite its cost, a barrage will not provide a secure power supply for the region - it will need to be supported by ‘conventional’ power stations.
“Businesses and the public need to understand the potential impact of a barrage, and if they are concerned, they need to make their voices heard now, before any more taxpayers’ money is spent.
“While we totally support the need to explore and develop more sustainable forms of energy, we believe that there are more elegant ways of generating tidal power from the Severn.”
More information is available from the Stop the Barrage NOW website at http://www.stopthebarrage.com/.
Research carried out by Frontier Economics on behalf of 10 environmental groups, including the National Trust, the RSPB, and the WWF, found a barrage would destroy almost 86,486 acres of highly protected wetlands.
A study by the Sustainable Development Commission concluded a barrage in the Severn Estuary would result in the loss of up to 75 per cent of the existing intertidal habitat, which is internationally protected.
The Government is currently carrying out a feasibility study into renewable energy possibilities in the Severn Estuary with 10 schemes under consideration, including four barrage proposals - Brean Down, near Weston- super-Mare, to Lavernock Point, near Cardiff; Minehead to Aberthaw; and Aust to Beachley.
A short list of the proposed options is due to be drawn up this month.
A barrage will generate power for only 23 per cent of the day during two irregular periods, according to the Sustainable Development Commission’s report Turning the Tide: Tidal Power in the UK, 2007.
The costs of a Severn barrage are currently estimated to be £20 billion.
In comparison, two conventional power stations generating the same amount of power (17 terawatt hours) would cost £3 billion - 15 per cent of the cost of a barrage.

Severn Estuary reef 'greener and more powerful' than barrage plan

AN alternative to proposals for an energy generating barrage across the Severn Estuary has been put forward by a Cornwall company which instead wants to build a ‘Severn Tidal Reef’ from Minehead to Aberthaw, in Wales.
The new scheme (illustrated, right, and below) is being promoted as a ‘totally new concept in tidal power generation’, by Joseph Evans and Sons Ltd, of Launceston.
Company owner Rupert Evans said the 12-mile reef plan was a ‘greener’ alternative a proposed 10-mile barrage between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare.
Mr Evans said construction of the reef would not harm birds, fish, or shipping movements and would ensure fish species were unharmed by allowing safe passage through its proposed wind turbines.
The scheme is among 10 projects which the Government is assessing in an ongoing feasibility study into Severn Estuary tidal power.
Mr Evans said: “The reef was designed specifically to not harm the environment.
“I am even confident a canoeist would be able to pass through the turbines unhurt as they are slow moving and large.
“The reef is not being opposed by the Stop the Barrage Campaign or the various fishery groups because it is specifically designed so as not to cause damage to birds, fish, or to hinder shipping.
“The Severn Tidal Reef Project is a totally new concept in tidal power generation with the prospect of being environmentally benign.”
Mr Evans said the reef would generate as much, or even more, electricity than the Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare barrage.
It would include low visual impact and disruption, reduced risks of flooding, and maximum power generation.
“Unlike other monolithic tidal barrages designed to hold back the full height of the tide - the second highest in the world - the reef works with only two metres of fall but ‘slices off’ the power over a much longer generation period that is much easier to match to the peaks in electricity demand,” said Mr Evans.
“The full range of the tide is harnessed by a large number of simple low-head turbines along the 12-mile route.
“Massive, yes, but more economical in materials than the barrage or the ‘lagoon’ proposal, on account of the shape of the structure and very low pressure difference.
“The small difference in level between the sea and the estuary is critical when it comes to shipping, which can pass through opening sections of the reef on their way up to Avonmouth, a port in the midst of a massive redevelopment plan to accommodate the latest generation of container ships, and where any delays can be very expensive.
“The small difference in level also facilitates the safe passage of salmon and other fish through the special turbines, something that is not possible with conventional turbines with their high pressure drop and sharp-edged high-speed runners (rotors).
“Another unique feature is the ‘Active Tidal Control System’ that would allow the modification of the high water levels from tide to tide.
“A sophisticated computer system would know what high tide, even storm surge, was expected, and optimise the power extraction or free flow of water through the barrage to best meet the peaks in power demand, meet the navigation depth requirements for particular ships, and protect the wildlife and habitats by obtaining the right degree of variation in water levels.”