BUILDING a tidal lagoon on the Somerset coast could provide power for two million homes and bring “substantial” local benefits, according to one of the project’s leading engineers.
The West Somerset tidal lagoon project aims to create a tidal lagoon between Minehead and Watchet by 2038, generating clean and affordable hydroelectric power.
The project has already attracted the support of local MP Rachel Gilmour, who has been lobbying government ministers to provide investment and bring jobs to the local area.
Water and hydro-power engineer Chris Binnie, who has been spearheading the project, has now laid out the technical elements of the project, arguing it will bring huge benefits without many of the knock-on effects that have beset Somerset since work began at Hinkley Point C further along the coast.
Mr Binnie told the Local Democracy Reporting Service at Blue Anchor on Monday, February 17: “In this country we are short of renewable energy. One of the ways that we can produce power is to use the difference in tidal heights of the Bristol Channel.
“Here at Blue Anchor, there is about ten metres of tidal range – that is, between high water and low water.
“You build a lagoon wall going out in a semicircle around this area of coast. You would then use the difference in head between the water in the Bristol Channel and the water in the lagoon to generate hydroelectric power with large turbines.
“That energy would go into the National Grid, and we have a link in our scheme which would go straight to Shurton, which is near Hinkley Point.
Mr Binnie was part of a team which worked on proposals for a tidal barrage across the River Severn – a proposal which was ultimately rejected by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government in October 2010.
He said: “It was a very good project, except that it impeded navigation going up to Bristol Docks and impeded fish migration up the Severn.
“We thought: ‘can we do a better scheme further down the coast?’. We’ve chosen a D-shipped lagoon, so that will not affect the shipping going up to Bristol.
“With a lagoon, we only go out about seven kilometres out – about a third of the distance across way to Wales. The deep shipping challenge is off the Welsh coast, so there would be no impedance for shipping going up to Bristol.”
Smaller pleasure boats will be able to pass in and out of the lagoon without hindrance, allowing Watchet Marina and Minehead Harbour to continue hosting a wide range of sea-going vessels.
As part of the lagoon proposals, a new marina could be delivered in Minehead, with enough space for 300 vessels.
Mr Binnie, who grew up in the Minehead area, said that the lagoon would be a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly option than simply relying on Hinkley Point C – which, once operational, may only generate power for up to 60 years.
He said: “This will not be a concrete monstrosity, since it will be barely seen right out to sea.”