Solway tidal energy study

June 2, 2009
A new study will be the latest to look at ways to harness the powerful currents of the Solway First to produce renewable tidal energy.

The proposed barrage would lie along the route of a former railway viaduct between Bowness and Annan, spanning the upper reaches of the firth at its narrowest point.

The location offers the advantage of a possible grid connection at the nearby Chapelcross nuclear power station, which is currently being decommissioned. 

The study will also assess possible additional benefits such as employment and economic development, flood defence, tourism and transport – with the barrage acting as a bridge between West Cumbria and South West Scotland.

The concept of the Solway Energy Gateway is already being actively promoted and seeks to extract energy from the Solway Firth by means of a tidal range barrage located between Bowness and Annan.

The proposal aims to ensure that local communities on each side of the firth in England and Scotland would benefit directly from any eventual scheme.

The new study follows recent research by the Joule Centre and the universities of Liverpool and Lancaster, along with previous studies by Babtie, Shaw and Morton in the 1960s, all of which highlight the possibilities for tidal energy on the Solway Firth.

Earlier this year scientists from the University of Liverpool and the nearby Proudman Oceanic Laboratory reported that four huge tidal barrages across the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay, the Mersey Estuary and Dee Estuary could produce enough green energy to supply half of the Northwest.

The £100,000 study is being jointly funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Scottish Enterprise and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Steven Broomhead, chief executive at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) said: “Increased renewable energy generation is clearly a major aim of the government’s energy and climate change policy.

“The Solway Energy Gateway has the potential to not only provide renewable energy for generations to come; it will also provide significant economic benefits to the local communities, generating jobs and developing the area’s tourism potential.”

Allison MacColl, key sectors team leader at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Scottish Enterprise is pleased to offer support to this project to establish the viability of a tidal energy extraction scheme on the Solway Firth which will assist with meeting Scotland and the UK’s targets for increased renewable energy generation.

“This study should also help identify the potential scale of economic benefit for the regions either side of the Solway whilst taking account of the status of the Solway Firth as an area of outstanding natural beauty and ecological significance.”

The study will be carried out by a consortium led by the Halcrow Group Limited, supported by nb21c (social enterprise) Ltd, the organisation responsible for conceiving, developing and promoting the community based proposal which will support the study.