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Published:
December 18, 2008
List
of Severn Barrage schemes to be cut down by government
 The
Government is expected to significantly reduce the number of power-harnessing
schemes it is considering for the Severn Estuary at the start
of 2009, it has been confirmed this week.
A
meeting of senior ministers was held this week to discuss which
of the ten options, which include a £15 billion barrage
between Brean Down and Wales, should be looked at in more detail.
The two year feasibility study is approaching the half way mark
and the government wants to remove any "no-go" proposals
from the list of 10 (shown below).
The meeting included Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, transport,
business and Welsh Assembly ministers and South West Minister
Ben Bradshaw and the options will be finalised over the next month
with a decision due by the end of January.
A scaled-down shortlist would allow experts to focus on the key
options and quickly go out to public consultation on them.
| .The
ten Severn Barrage options: |
Outer Barrage from Minehead to Aberthaw – this would
be the largest barrage and would make maximum use of the
Severn Estuary tidal resource;
Middle
Barrage from Brean Down to Lavernock Point – most well-studied
option, known as the Cardiff-Weston barrage;
Middle
Barrage from Hinkley to Lavernock Point – as option
2 but lands at Hinkley;
Inner Barrage
(Shoots Barrage) – also known as English Stones scheme
and studied in detail by the Sustainable Development Commission;
Beachley
Barrage – barrage further upstream, smaller generating
capacity than Shoots;
Tidal Fence
proposal – a barrier constructed over part of the Cardiff
to Weston line, with open sections, incorporating tidal
stream turbines to capture energy from the ebb and flood
tides;
Lagoon
enclosure on the Welsh grounds (Fleming lagoon) – one
of the previously studied Russell lagoons from the 1980s;
Tidal lagoon
concept – a proposal for a number of tidal lagoons;
Tidal reef
proposal – a concept that would include floating turbines;
Severn
Lake Scheme – a barrage just over a half-a-mile wide
in the same location as the Cardiff-Weston scheme designed
to allow the construction of a number of additional features,
including a wave farm on the seaward side and four marinas.
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It
comes as a number of groups opposed to any scheme joined together
to ramp up their opposition to a barrage.
The RSPB, WWF-UK and Friends of the Earth Cymru, along with other
leading opponents, called for the government to focus on other
schemes.
"The challenge is great, but is one that we support,"
they said in a letter. "The recommended projects need to
help to tackle climate change and be at an acceptable cost to
the taxpayer. We argue that they should also minimise harm to
the internationally important wildlife, the special landscape
and the heritage of the Severn."
"There is an easy option: the ministers could shortlist the
projects that have received most attention, such as the proposed
Cardiff-Weston barrage. The trouble is, this is the most environmentally
destructive proposal up for consideration."
"There is a better approach: ministers could continue to
explore the less environmentally destructive proposals, even if
their designs need more time to be fully developed. These may
prove to be cheaper and deliver more energy in the long run."
"This would be a brave choice, and a visionary one. But it
would also be the right choice, given the crucial significance
of the Severn estuary for people, birds, fish and other wildlife."
A Government spokeswoman said in a statement: "We always
said that at the end of the first year we would look back at the
work we have done. If there were something we thought was a no
go we would discontinue it. It is unlikely any shortlist would
have ten options."
The 10 schemes on the current shortlist include the 10-mile Lavernock
Point to Brean Down barrage plan, which could generate up to five
per cent of the UK's electricity, and the shorter Shoots barrage
further up the estuary.
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Official
Severn Lake Website [External Link]
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