Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon seeks funding

The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon Project has launched a £1.2M fundraiser to secure planning permission in perpetuity as the project risks being abandoned once the Development Consent Order (DCO) it was awarded in June 2015 expires in June 2020.

The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon would be capable of producing 25GW of energy and would be the potential first in a fleet of tidal lagoons that could produce ten per cent of Britain’s energy needs, providing thousands of new jobs and creating an entirely new British manufacturing sector.

Following the earlier 2019 General Election, the tidal project has suffered immensely from the ensuing political uncertainty and from the former Prime Minister, Theresa May, refusing to provide it with any subsidy support.

The Tidal Power Plc’s Chief Executive, Mark Shorrock stated: “With the increased awareness of the Climate Emergency, the rationale to deliver lagoons is stronger than ever and that view is shared by the majority of political parties contesting the 2019 General Election.

“However, we must first remove the cliff-edge from Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon’s planning permission. No amount of political will can resurrect this vital pathfinder project if the planning permission is allowed to lapse. That is why we have launched our new fundraiser. By raising a relatively modest sum we can retain for the UK the option of large-scale, multi-generational tidal power.

“We would like to thank the almost 450 individual investors who share our vision and have to date invested £37M in the project. Political and institutional support are important but, in the struggle to decarbonise the global economy, it is individuals that hold the key to transformation. We hope this fundraiser is supported so we can bring the vision of tidal power for the UK into reality”.

The Chairman of the Tidal Lagoon Industry Advisory Group, Roger Evans added: “For the last five years we have been working to secure this exciting new industry for Wales. Major infrastructure projects always take longer than initially envisaged but the looming deadline for the planning consent means that timing really now is critical if we are ever going to deliver on lagoons for the people of Wales. For the sake of our economy and our environment, we really cannot miss this opportunity.”

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