Barrage power plan awaits report

The barrage would stretch from south Wales to the Somerset coast

Plans for a barrage that could generate 5% of the UK's electricity needs could move a step closer with the publication of a major report into tidal power.

The Sustainable Development Commission - which has been looking into proposals to build a Severn Barrage - is likely to recommend support for the project.

But environmental groups have criticised the idea.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) and wildlife charity WWF say smaller "tidal lagoons" would be cheaper and more efficient.

Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton has announced a new study on the proposal for a barrage stretching from south of Cardiff to Weston-Super-Mare.

The £14bn tidal power scheme could deliver up to 5% of UK electricity.

A barrage is seen as one way of harnessing the estuary's tidal range to generate power.

The environmental groups' attack comes as the Sustainable Development Commission is to present its advice on the potential for tidal power in the UK, including the Severn project.

SEVERN BARRAGE The barrage would be 16km (10 miles) long It would power more than 200 turbines It could create 35,000 construction jobs and 10,000 - 40,000 permanent jobs It could be generating electricity within 11 years

FoE Cymru said a barrage would block the development of more cost effective, environmentally-friendly and powerful renewable energy schemes on the estuary, a Special Conservation Area.

It proposes the use of tidal lagoons, which are artificially created offshore pools with turbines driven by water flow as the tide rises and falls.

The group says tidal lagoons could generate up to 60% more energy than a barrage, would not block shipping routes and would integrate well with other renewable energy schemes without destroying internationally important bird feeding grounds.

The organisation, which claimed it had experienced "outright hostility" from officialdom over lagoon proposals, called for a relatively small scheme to be built to prove the technology could work.

HOW TIDAL POWER WORKS As tide comes in, sea water passes through barrage to landward side At high tide, sluice gates shut, trapping water in estuary or basin When tide recedes on sea-side of barrage, sluice gates open Water flows through barrage, driving turbines and generating power Power can be generated in both directions, but this can affect efficiency and economics of project

Last year's governmental energy review opened the door again, saying that the barrage should be re-evaluated.

FoE Cymru energy spokesman Neil Crumpton said: "The £14bn Severn barrage would be a hugely expensive, environmentally damaging and legally questionable mega-project.

"In contrast, a series of large lagoons in the Severn estuary, possibly with a Shoots barrage which could carry the London to south Wales rail link, could offer a far better solution to harnessing the enormous power of the Severn estuary."

WWF Cymru said a barrage would open up a "pandora's box" of developments endangering key habitats and species on the estuary, which contains mudflats, salt marshes, rocky islands and food that support some 65,000 birds in winter.

Head Morgan Parry said: "To enable the Severn barrage to go ahead, would open the door to other high carbon developments including oil and gas and will critically undermine the UK's efforts to adapt to climate change and protect biodiversity.

Last Tuesday, Mr Hutton described the concept of a barrage as "truly visionary".

He signalled that a multi-million pound feasibility study would go ahead, citing climate concerns as the main driver.

The Sustainable Development Commission's report, Tidal Power in the UK, is to be launched at parallel events in Cardiff and London.