Severn Barrage should now be canned say environmental groups
Environmental groups including WWT are calling on Hafren Power to call time on their ill-conceived proposal for a barrage across the Severn, in order to make room for more sustainable renewable power proposals.
Today’s report from the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee concludes that Hafren Power failed to make the economic case for a barrage, failed to persuade them that it wouldn't harm jobs, and failed to answer serious environmental concerns.
The Severn is Britain’s biggest estuary and supports significant communities and industries alongside internationally important populations of birds and fish within its outstanding landscape.
Its huge tidal range – the second highest in the world – creates the famous Severn Bore and gives it the potential to be the global home of tidal power, but the environment groups say that successive governments have been distracted by plans for a big barrage.
The coalition of environment groups who were involved in the Select Committee inquiry process fully support committee chairman Tim Yeo’s recommendation that ‘Government should consider a more proactive approach to managing Severn Tidal Resources to harness its massive tidal range in the most sustainable and cost-effective way’.
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Chief Executive Martin Spray CBE said:
“The committee’s report is a clear sign that it’s time to stop wasting public money on assessing outdated barrage designs and start searching out innovative, scalable technology that will maximise power, while minimising impact.
“Our vision is a Severn Estuary community that brings inventors and investors together to develop and export new ways to tackle climate change that won’t destroy our natural heritage.”
The committee report comes just days after the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology published a note setting out the impacts of tidal barrages for MPs and Lords, and de-bunking some of the unsubstantiated claims made by the Hafren Power consortium.
Environmental groups, engineers and decision-makers are already discussing more innovative approaches to tidal power in the Severn Estuary. The Sustainable Severn conference was held in Bristol in April 2013. This demonstrated a clear consensus for environmentally acceptable renewable energy developments as part of a wider vision for the sustainable future of the Severn estuary, and more meetings are planned for the future.
