Plans for ‘world-first’ £1.3bn tidal lagoon to provide green energy for 120 years and create thousands of jobs in Swansea Bay backed in government-funded review

PLANS for a £1.3billion tidal lagoon will to provide green energy for 120 years and create thousands of jobs will be backed in a government-funded review today.

The former energy minister who compiled the report says they could play an important role in ensuring secure power supplies in the future.

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Charles Hendry was speaking before the publication of his independent study into the potential for tidal lagoon energy in the UK.

His support is a boost to get a "world first" project off the ground to harness the power of the tides in the Severn Estuary by building a lagoon in Swansea Bay.

Backers say it would also generate thousands of jobs and boost the Welsh economy, while supplying predictable, clean electricity for 155,000 homes for 120 years.

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The firm behind the plans, Tidal Lagoon Power, say the Swansea Bay scheme would require only the rate of bill-payer support currently offered to nuclear, and because the project was small it would cost households as little as 20p to 30p on average.

The lagoon would involve a U-shaped breakwater built out from the coast, with a bank of turbines turned by water which would harness the rise and fall of the tides to generate renewable electricity.

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Mr Hendry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We know it absolutely works. One of the great advantages is it is completely predictable for all time to come.

"We know exactly when the spring tides and neap tides are going to be every single day for the rest of time and so, in terms of meeting security of supply, lagoons can play an important role."

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The Government has previously expressed backing for lagoons, but former Prime Minister David Cameron said his enthusiasm had been "reduced" by the potential costs.

However Mr Hendry said he had assessed how expensive the project was by spreading the cost of the subsidies over the lifetime of the project.

"If you look at it over the cost of that 120 years then you get a very much lower figure than almost any other source of power generation," he said.

Tidal Lagoon Power claims the Swansea Bay scheme would be a proof-of-concept project opening the way for a series of lagoons around the coast, costing less due to economies of scale and meeting 8% of the country's power needs for 120 years.