The UK government has appointed a contractor to undertake the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the proposed Severn Tidal power project.
Parsons Brinckerhoff will manage the SEA, which is part of a major feasibility study into the proposed plant in the Severn Estuary. It will provide analysis of how the environment around the estuary will be affected if the tidal range power project goes ahead.
The Severn Tidal power project has the potential to generate up to five per cent of the UK’s electricity demand and could therefore play a major part in helping the country meet renewable energy targets. But the government has been warned by an independent advisory body that the impacts of the scheme could outweigh the benefits.
The government launch the two-year feasibility study in January. Pricewaterhouse Coopers has been appointed to advise the government on the financing and ownership options for the project.
Parsons Brinckerhoff will start the SEA with a call for proposals for tidal power schemes in the Severn Estuary using tidal range technology, as well as requesting information that could serve as evidence in the assessment process. A Steering Group of independent stakeholders will be appointed to provide advice and act as a peer review group.
In October last year the Sustainable Development Commission said that the government must impose tough environmental conditions on the project in order to make it truly sustainable. At risk is a network of unique estuary habitats.
Minister for the Environment at the Welsh Assembly Government, Jane Davidson said: “I am very much aware of the estuary's environmental importance and the environmental protection legislation that, quite rightly, will need to be taken fully into account. There is a great deal at stake and our assessments during the feasibility study must be rigorous and based on sound science.”
The Severn Estuary is one of the largest estuaries in the UK. Its classic funnel shape, unique in the UK, helps give it the second highest tidal range in the world.
The cost of a Severn barrage scheme has been put at £15 billion. Studies in the 1980s indicated that such a project could have a generating capacity of 8640 MW and an estimated annual output of 17 TWh.
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