Tidal Turbines Planned for Swansea Bay ‘Stuck in Past’, Expert Says

Dr Stuart Anderson, a tidal energy campaigner and Conwy councilor, claims that an additional GBP 50 million will be needed to develop more advanced tidal turbines for the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon, worth GBP 1 billion.

Tidal Lagoon Power, the developer of the Swansea Bay project, aims at harnessing tidal power from both ebb and flow. However, Mr Anderson says that the technology that is taken into consideration is outdated and not up to the task. According to him, developing a bidirectional turbine would be a much viable solution than adjusting already developed turbines to work both ways. This would also require an additional GBP 50 million, he says.

“The single turbine can be adapted to work two ways, but very imperfectly, and that’s what I would call a hand-me-down technology, rather than 21st century optimisation. It would be a terrific shame to spend something like £1bn on a pilot scheme without spending £50m to get the technology perfected to a point which could help future schemes in the UK,”  Wales Online quotes Mr Anderson as saying.

On the other hand, the company behind the project says that its technology will be capable of efficiently harnessing 93% of the ebb tide and 81% of the flood tide.

The UK Government recently announced that it will soon start closer discussions with Tidal Lagoon Power.

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Offshore WIND Staff; Image: Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay