UK MP’s on the Energy and Climate Change Committee, who are investigating a large scale barrage to harness the energy potential of the Bristol Channel, have heard that an alternative approach would be better for the environment and for industry.
Regen SW, a leading centre of sustainable energy expertise in the UK, works with businesses and local authorities to deliver groundbreaking renewable energy projects.
Johnny Gowdy, director, Regen SW, said that most people they have spoken to in the sector do not feel that a big barrage solution is the right answer.
To date, proposed large scale schemes for the Channel, although they may have been technically feasible, have fallen in terms of the cost of energy, risk and their environmental and socio-economic impact.
Mr Gowdy said: “Regen SW have been working closely with the tidal industry since 2010 since the publication of the Severn Tidal Feasibility Study, to see how large scale energy could be produced from the Bristol channel without the need for a full scale barrage would have a massive impact on both the ecology of the channel and upstream ports such as Bristol”.
The company wants the channel to be lookled at as a holistic ‘energy system’ and a strategy to be adopted to deploy multiple technologies such as tidal steam, tidal fences, lagoons, wind and wave power.
A recent report produced by Regen SW and the specialist consultancy firm Marine Energy Matters, identified that this balanced technology approach could provide between 5 GW and 14 GW of renewable energy capacity. The approach is receiving widespread backing from the industry including tidal technology developers and the South West Marine Energy Park.
