Article in South Wales Evening Post

BAY LAGOON BACKER CALLS FOR POLICY SEA CHANGE
Date : 26.07.08



BY Richard YOULE environment reporter

richard.youle@...

THE man behind a proposed energy-generating lagoon in Swansea Bay
says he hasn't given up on the project, despite continuing silence
from the UK Government on the scheme.

Peter Ullman wants to capture rising and falling tides in a rocky
lagoon structure that would then funnel the water through turbines to
generate clean electricity for thousands of city homes.

Mr Ullman, chief executive of American firm Tidal Electric, was
speaking in the wake of an announcement by the Government of 10
potential schemes it is investigating to harness the huge tidal range
of the Severn Estuary.

They include the much-vaunted Severn barrage, running from Lavernock
Point, near Cardiff, to Brean Down, near Weston-super-Mare, a longer
barrage from Minehead, Somerset, to Aberthaw, in the Vale of
Glamorgan, a series of tidal lagoons, and a tidal reef.

The shortlist of 10 will be whittled down later this year, with
further feasibility studies taking place until late 2009 or early
2010.

The Swansea Bay project is not included in this shortlist because it
is not in the Severn Estuary. But because it's not part of the
ongoing government investigation, which has effectively put all the
schemes on hold, it could in theory get underway quickly if consent
was given.

"We have been ready to go for years," said Mr Ullman. "The issue for
us is whether we can get consent - but you just don't know what the
UK Government is going to do."

Having consulted 55 different groups about the Swansea Bay lagoon
scheme, and had the project studied by five independent specialists,
Mr Ullman believes a change in government policy is needed to give
him - and potential investors - confidence. But he added: "I have not
given up on Swansea Bay."

Tidal Electric is hoping to build tidal lagoons in Canada and in the
Sea of Cortez, off Mexico. "The Mexican Government is proposing to be
our partner on a 500MW scheme, which is much bigger than the 60MW
Swansea Bay scheme," said Mr Ullman. "We are hoping to close the
deal."