Some people have called our new proposals for a Severn barrage visionary, others say ‘just get on with it’ because its time has come, and some people reading this would rather we just went away.
We firmly believe Wales will benefit enormously from the project and not going ahead would be a huge missed opportunity.
The £25 billion, 11-mile barrage, built with private money, is also nationally important – able to generate 5% of Britain’s electricity cleanly, securely, predictably and, over its lifetime, much more cheaply than any other fuel.
For once, it isn’t a flagship project in London and the South East. Our investment will surpass London’s Crossrail (£15 billion), the Channel Tunnel high speed rail link (£6 billion) and the new London Gateway container port (£1.5 billion) opening this year.
No major project is without controversy and I am not dismissing the very valid concerns that have been expressed. But I think most, if not all issues can be resolved, with time, in the proper consultation process.
South Wales has a fine engineering heritage especially in relation to energy production. As an engineer I am now proud to be one of the drivers behind the largest, most powerful and advanced zero carbon tidal power project in the world. It will also help diversify the already successful local economic base and provide a significant economic stimulus along the M4 corridor.
So, how many jobs will we create? Based on experience, our engineers estimate 20,000 jobs during the nine-year construction. A further 30,000 jobs will be indirectly created – an estimate based on Office for National Statistics guidelines.
We need 1,026 underwater turbines. These will be massive, each about the weight of a fully laden Boeing 747. They will also need to be maintained.
Ports will be needed for the construction traffic, delivery of materials and on-going support for the lifetime of the barrage, at least 120 years.
Our contractors will be hiring project managers, every type of engineer, logistics and planning experts, surveyors, IT and HR professionals and more.
There will also be plenty of work for crane and truck drivers, riggers, welders, concrete operators, warehouse staff, mechanics, barge operators and tug crews, to name a few.
Importantly, given the length of the build, there will be time to create training schemes for young people and others looking to retrain. We want to work with trades unions and nationally recognised training bodies on this to build a useful, lasting skills base.
In day-to-day operations, from about 2025, we estimate the barrage will employ about 1,000 people, bringing fresh opportunities if you want to change jobs, find work or start training.
But the story shouldn’t stop there. We believe the know-how developed will be in demand elsewhere. A world dominated by cheap coal, oil and gas is history. There is cross party agreement in the National Assembly around this. And a response to global warming is zero carbon power generation.
The National Oceanographic Centre says tidal barrages could generate 15% of Britain’s electricity so there is scope for our people to deliver projects elsewhere in the UK. Tides are also a mostly untapped energy source across the world and Britain can and should lead the world, exporting knowledge, design and modern engineering.
There is also a significant environmental benefit. The barrage will also protect tens of thousands of properties on both sides of the estuary against rising sea levels and storm surges. No other form of generation can do that.
The estuary’s wildlife is rightly protected by law – if the rules cannot be satisfied, then no barrage should be built. We have set aside up to £1 billion to help wildlife and support habitats.
The barrage will also be a must-see for tourists. In France, the much smaller 1960s built barrage at La Rance sees some 40,000 visitors a year. Our architects are working on designs now. It has got to be pleasing to the eye.
In the weeks and months ahead we will ensure the details of our proposals are well understood in the Assembly, Westminster and locally. The forthcoming report on the project by the Energy and Climate Change Committee in the Commons will be read both there and in the National Assembly too when it is published in June.
We want all parties in Wales to support what’s surely the high water mark for much-needed green energy, major infrastructure development and job creation.
The “details of our proposals” are precisely what have been lacking. We would need to see far more detail than anyone connected with this project has so far put into the public domain; and you cannot seriously hope to get consideration, yet alone approval, without such detail.
It seems to me that the Barrage is a no brainer. I personally don’t understand why the go-ahead still hasn’t been given to this project. The money is coming from private investors; it would create jobs and industry in a region where both are sorely needed; and it would provide green energy cheaper and more safely than nuclear power.
While I understand the concerns of conservationists, they seem to be coming with the same concerns that were raised prior to the building of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and we saw that the birds found feeding grounds elsewhere. The impact on wildlife can be seen in the same type of project built in France decades ago.
It makes me wonder if the government really want to invest in green energy, especially as the construction costs would be footed by others.
Both May 28 comments make valid points, but political ideology lies at the heart of the matter. (and it uses lies to promote its dogma)
The importance of this infrastructure is of a different order of magnitude to HS2, which we could well do without, and yet no political voices are raised to condemn this laissez faire approach to essential investment in renewable energy.
More damaging still is the wilful neglect, by both the WAG and Westminster, of industrial innovation (IP), which would rejuvenate the whole UK economy by establishing new, sustainable manufacturing industries to build all the ground-breaking technology needed to displace fossil fuels.
Top of the list is energy storage, but the Energy Bill contains no measures to incentivise its development, let alone its deployment. The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, the Atlantic Array and the Bristol Channel Barrier should only be built under the premise that all three should have integral energy storage.
Anything less would be a crass oversight by all concerned.