DECISION ON LAGOON HIT BY NEW DELAY
The UK Government’s decision on the fate of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon has been hit with another delay.
A statement had been expected this week but it is understood an announcement on the renewable energy project may not come for up to 10 days or more.
The Welsh Government has offered to invest up to £200m to make the £1.3bn project a reality.
A key issue is whether a deal can be reached on the amount that will be paid for the electricity produced by the lagoon.
The Financial Times had reported a “senior government figure” saying the lagoon had not a “cat’s chance in hell” of getting the green light.
However, Energy Secretary Greg Clark did not rule out the possibility of it going ahead last week when he announced that the UK Government was moving forward with negotiations on Anglesey’s Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station.
Supporters of the Swansea project have been waiting since January 2017 for ministers to respond to an independent review chaired by former Conservative Energy Minister Charles Hendry, which described backing the lagoon as a “no regrets” policy.
Champions of tidal energy hope this could kick-start a new industry in the UK with further lagoons constructed in Cardiff, Colwyn Bay and Newport.
The delay in the expected announcement means supporters of the lagoon have more time to make the argument for it to go ahead.
Len McCluskey, leader of Unite trade union, said the project was “vital not just to the south Wales economy, but to the whole of Wales and the UK”.
Rob Stewart, leader of Swansea Council, said the Welsh Government’s offer of support was a “game-changer” and pressed to know whether the UK Government is only looking at the cost of electricity when considering the project’s merits. He argued it would allow electricity to be sold at the same price as the power generated by the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.
He said: “This completely dispels the myth that the tidal lagoon is too expensive to be given the go-ahead, so we’d like to know if it’s just the cost of electricity the UK Government will base its decision on, or if the project’s many other benefits are also being considered. The tidal lagoon will create thousands of jobs, benefit supply chain businesses across south west Wales, and lead to a new global export industry in Swansea Bay.
“So if these factors are also being taken on board, then what information has been collected and provided for the attention of UK Government decisionmakers? This is a vital decision, so the people of south west Wales deserve to know.”
Mr Stewart added: “This is a project that’s seen by all four regional councils and the wider business community as an extremely important catalyst to address the gulf in economic wellbeing between Swansea Bay and the rest of the UK.
“It would further boost everything we’re doing as part of the £1.3bn Swansea Bay City Deal to improve local peo-
ple’s lives by raising aspirations and giving opportunities to access wellpaid jobs in key regional sectors like energy, creative industries, advanced manufacturing and life sciences.”
In the Commons, Labour Ogmore MP Chris Elmore pushed for details of when the announcement would be made but was told it will come “in due course”.
Energy Minister Claire Perry said: “I would take no lessons, having grown up on one side of the Bristol Channel and seen the second highest tidal range in the world on an almost daily basis, on the value of tidal and marine technology growing forward. But it is absolutely right as guardians of public money that we make investments that deliver the right decarbonisation and the right value for the taxpayer... That announcement will come in due course and the House will be the first to know.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said: “The Government is considering the findings of Hendry review into tidal lagoons and an announcement will be made in due course.”
THE UK Government has pulled back from making an announcement on the fate of the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and it should use the time to seriously consider the wider merits of this £1.3bn renewable energy project.
There was speculation that the UK Government would knock the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon on the head at the same time it announced a major step towards making the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station on Anglesey a reality. Whitehall has a long tradition of burying bad news.
Expectation then soared that the announcement would come in the first half of this week. But yesterday it was understood that the decision would be postponed further.
Supporters of the lagoon have been waiting for a government decision since January 2017, when former Conservative Energy Minister Charles Hendry backed it as a “no regrets” policy. Since then, he has spoken with enthusiasm for this “pathfinder” project’s potential to kick-start the development of a tidal energy sector.
The men and women behind the project have invested years of their lives and major financial resources in the vision of a lagoon and it seems unfair to keep them dangling on a thread. The UK Government may be, rightly, worried about the political backlash that cancellation would cause in Wales – a nation where the Tories need to do well to stand a chance of winning a majority but where the party went badly backwards at the last general election.
The cabinet minister responsible for giving the thumbs-up or down, Greg Clark, should use the extra time to look seriously at the potential benefits of the project. He is the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and in making his decision he should not fixate on the initial price of the electricity, important though that is, to the exclusion of the potential wider benefits.
Just as early investment in offshore wind saw the birth of a major industry and a tumbling in costs, the Government has the chance to help pioneer tidal power.
If this leads to the development of giant lagoons Britain will be at the forefront of a green industrial revolution. At the very least, the Swansea project would spur the construction of an epic sea wall, which could be a major boon for tourism, and would provide decades of clean and reliable energy. If the calculations plus benefits do add up, that is a prize to be grasped.