UK TO TAKE SEVERN TIDAL BIDS

U.K.’s Severn River Open for Private Tidal Power, Minister Says
Alex Morales, May 19, 2011 (Bloomberg News)

"The U.K.’s longest river, the Severn, is open for private tidal power projects, the government said, seven months after rejecting a project that could have supplied as much as 5 percent of the nation’s power.

"The government…[wants developers to come forward with proposals after saying on Oct. 18 that] low carbon generation such as nuclear and wind power represented a better deal for taxpayers than a so-called tidal barrage across the Severn [which was projected to cost 34 billion-pounds ($55 billion)]…"

There have been several proposals for Severn tidal power but the UK is still looking for the one that best balances costs and benefits. (click to enlarge)

"The government had been examining five options for tidal projects on the river, which it says has a 14-meter (46-foot) tidal range, one of the biggest in the world. Three of the proposals were for dam-like structures spanning the river called barrages, and two were tidal lagoons, or barrages cordoning off a portion of the river bank…

"The Severn runs 220 miles (354 kilometers) from central Wales to the sea between Wales and southwest England."