Lagoon plan powers on to next stage
The consortium, led by A&P Falmouth, believes the lagoon could become the biggest green energy project in Britain. It says the proposed £3 billion project could generate electricity on a par with six power stations and more energy than all the wind farms that are proposed to dot the UK coast, combined.
The lagoon is one of five embryonic energy schemes now being analysed by engineering group Parsons Brinckerhoff on behalf of the Government, as part of the Severn Tidal Power Programme.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is due to announce later in the summer which of the five projects will receive funding of up to £500,000 to further their development.
Joseph Toland, the consortium's spokesman and inventor of the lagoon, said that if the project gets the go-ahead, it could create 1,500 jobs in Falmouth and Plymouth for the five years it would take to build the structure, which would be shipped to its final destination.
A&P says the 40-kilometre lagoon's position in the estuary would guarantee a constant supply of green energy that could entirely power Devon and Cornwall. Hydroelectricity would be generated by the most powerful tides on the UK coast constantly filling and being released from the seabed-anchored reservoir.
The lagoon has been designed to interrupt the natural course of the tide, causing the incoming seawater to run faster around its walls. This flow would also be harnessed to create energy, with up to 800 propeller-like water wheels generating power as the tide rushes over them.
The rapid tidal flow caused by the sea rushing around the A&P lagoon walls, blocking its path to the river mouth, would dissipate naturally and not present a flooding risk, he added.
"The lagoon would generate 1,900 megawatts of energy, the equivalent of two gas-fired power stations," said Mr Toland, who runs Plymouth firm Rubicon Marine Products.
"The tidal flow devices on the lagoon walls would produce twice as much additional power.
"It would take 3,000 floating wave devices and 10,000 windmills to produce the same amount of power.
"Where our technology scores higher over everything else is that we can make the sea do something the others can't. The tide is constant and can generate energy every day of the year, where wind is only around 35 per cent of the year and offshore wave devices effective around 45 per cent."
The power would be tapped into the nearby National Grid connection at Hinkley Point.
"We have won through the initial stages of the Government research and are now in the Novel Technology stage of the programme," Mr Toland said.
The consortium aims for the lagoon to be an entirely Westcountry built, delivered and located project, but said, that if plans to build it in Bridgwater Bay went awry there was a possibility that it could be located off the South Wales coast in Cardiff Bay.
Four other schemes in the running at this stage include a barrage-style lagoon and three further barriers spanning the estuary.
"The chances of a barrage being built is remote, as it is the most construction, biggest cost for the least amount of power. They also hold back the tide, which is likely to affect the bird population on the Severn," Mr Toland said.
Representatives from A&P met the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Lord Hunt, in London last week to put their message across.
The project, which was launched nine months ago, has been self-funded by the group to the tune of around £45,000 so far.
"The company is also seeking like-minded civil engineering partners," Mr Toland said.
A spokesman from the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the Severn Tidal Power Programme was still at a "very early stage".
A second public consultation further investigating the possibility of exploiting the estuary to harness power is to be held next year.
Joseph Toland (below) has won through to the next stage with his tidal lagoon plan for Bridgwater Bay
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