Severn Barrage revisited
The British Government has said a £30bn barrage across the Severn Estuary could still be built if the ‘right proposals’ were made.
Previous plans for a barrage were rejected in 2010 largely on the basis of environmental concerns. The new proposal put forward by Hafren Power would see an 11mile long barrage built between Weston-super-Mare in England and Cardiff in Wales. It calls for smaller turbines than the earlier proposal, capable of generating power on both the rising and falling tide and promising to be more ‘fish friendly’ whilst also reducing the acreage of inter-tidal mudflats lost.
The proposed barrage is claimed to be capable of meeting 5% of the UK’s energy requirement, powering some 3.4m homes.
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