BUILDING a tidal lagoon on the west Somerset coast could produce clean energy for twice as long as Hinkley Point C, according to the local MP.

Somerset’s new nuclear power station is expected to be operational by the end of the decade, and could provide up to seven per cent of the UK’s power needs once fully up and running.

Tiverton and Minehead MP Rachel Gilmour is pushing for a new tidal lagoon to be built in the Bristol Channel, running from Minehead to Watchet, to produce clean power.

If the project is pursued, it could be up and running by 2038 – bringing new jobs and financial benefits to the local area.

Mrs Gilmour extolled the virtues of the West Somerset tidal lagoon during an Q&A event held at the East Quay venue on January 17, organised by the Watchet Coastal Community Team.

Mrs Gilmour said she had been working with Chris Binnie, the engineer heading up the project, since February 2024, and she would shortly be meeting with the relevant ministers to discuss it further.

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She said: “The tidal lagoon would go from the other side of Minehead head – and the Luttrell Estate has agreed to let us have the land – over to the other side to Watchet.

“This tidal lagoon, if it happens, will take ten years and it’s going to cost £10bn – but given that Hinkley Point C has cost £30bn and they still haven’t turned it on, the cost doesn’t seem to be a major factor.

“If this comes off, it will provide two-thirds of the electricity that Hinkley Point C would provide, and it will last for twice as long as Hinkley Point C – so it will last 120 years rather than 60 years.”

Up to 125 turbines would be installed, which would generate electricity from the tidal movements of the River Severn and send the power to batteries at the Doniford site, or a direct connection to the National Grid at Shurton.

In addition to power generation, the West Somerset Lagoon website pledges to deliver “a new promenade” in Minehead, along with an arts centre and visitor centre and a new ferry terminal to make it easier to visit the town.

Much of the west Somerset economy relies on tourism – with Watchet especially suffering in the last two years following the closure of the B3191 Cleeve Hill, which links the town to Blue Anchor.

Mrs Gilmour said that the tidal lagoon would bring more investment to the local area, creating high-paid jobs – and that the construction scheme could include money for local infrastructure projects, secured through the community infrastructure levy (CIL).

A WSP report commissioned by Somerset County Council in 2020 proposed building a tidal lagoon from Watchet to Blue Anchor with the redirected B3191 running on top of it – with the cost being estimated at more than £1bn.

Mrs Gilmour clarified that the West Somerset Lagoon project would not deliver the road redirection as part of the main construction, but that people would be able to walk around its perimeter.