Broken, the £18m tidal turbines that you paid for
A TAXPAYER-backed tidal energy scheme that cost £18million has been branded a ‘wet elephant’ after it stopped working within weeks.
The DeltaStream project, off the west coast of Wales, had been supposed to power 600 homes using the currents of the Irish Sea.
But the turbine stopped generating electricity after problems with sonar that was supposed to turn off the machine if seals, porpoises or dolphins came too close.
Its operator, Tidal Energy Ltd, has now gone into administration, leaving the 150-ton device to lie on the seabed off Pembrokeshire while the Welsh government searches for a buyer.
The scheme was completed in December 2015 after the EU gave £8million to the project, while the Welsh government supplied £500,000.
But in March last year it abruptly stopped generating electricity due to an ‘intermittent fault’ with the sonar. Andrew Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: ‘With over £8million of EU and Welsh government funding tied up in this project, this is extremely concerning.
‘That the turbine is currently in a state of disrepair poses a serious hindrance to the administrators’ ability to find a buyer to take on the device and the rest of the company’s assets. Labour once hailed the development of the turbine a “landmark project” for Wales. It is sad and deeply frustrating to think of it now broken on the ocean bed. I sincerely hope that a new buyer can step in to salvage this project and move it forward once again, and that it doesn’t just end up like a wet elephant, piled on the growing scrap heap of Labour’s failed investments.’
Chris Williams, of Tidal Energy Ltd, defended the cost of the project, saying: ‘The project was a research and development project. It was never put in the water to generate massive amounts of electricity.
‘The purpose of the project was to provide the essential learning, new knowledge, know-how and experience to progress the industry in Wales. What we set out to do we did, 100 per cent.’
A spokesman for the Welsh government said the project had achieved its objectives and ‘helped make Wales a key player’ in the industry.