| Mersey Barrage | |
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 The Mersey waterfront at Liverpool | |
 The River Mersey is highlighted in blue interactive map Coordinates: 53°27′00″N3°01′59″W / 53.45°N 3.033°W |
The Mersey Barrage is a proposed scheme for building a tidal barrage across the Mersey Estuary.
The River Mersey is considered to be a suitable source of marine renewable energy in the United Kingdom, because of its strong current and tidal range of up to 10 m (33 ft), [1] [2] the second highest in the United Kingdom. [3]
A Department of the Environment and UKAEA report in 1984 identified a site between New Brighton and Brocklebank Dock for a Mersey barrage. [4]
A 2006 study by Peel Holdings and the North West Development Agency identified the River Mersey as having considerable potential for tidal power. A pilot project, using a water wheel to harness tidal power, was considered at Bootle docks. [5] At the same time, a tidal barrage plan was evaluated, capable of generating 700 MW. [6]
A barrage scheme was abandoned in 2011, following a study by Peel Energy and the North West Development Agency. This proposal involved constructing a barrage between Dingle on the Liverpool bank and New Ferry on the Wirral bank. Although the study provided valuable insight, the preferred scheme was abandoned due to the expected lack of medium-term profitability. [7]
Steve Rotheram revived plans for a barrage as part of his 2017 election campaign. [8] The 2018 study indicated that economics were more favourable than previously, but still fell short by 20%. [9] In February 2020, following a year-long feasibility study, a tidal power proposal for the River Mersey was granted £2.5 million in funding to further develop the plan. [3] [10] In December 2022, the Liverpool City Region mayor announced an agreement between the City Region and K-water of South Korea, who built and operates the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station, to carry out "reciprocal visits and information sharing". [11] [12] The Mersey Tidal Power Project was launched as "a scoping project" in March 2024. [13] The projected power output is not stated but it is suggested that the scheme will be able to "power a million homes".
A Mersey barrage has been predicted to be capable of producing between 1.0 and 1.5 terawatt-hours of electricity per year (0.11 to 0.17 GW), which is equivalent to two-thirds of Liverpool's 2017 electricity requirement. [14]
One design has proposed that cross-river public transport infrastructure is included in the construction. [15]
The estuary is designated as an internationally important protected area, for wading birds, ducks and fish. The Lancashire Wildlife Trust and the Cheshire Wildlife Trust are monitoring the progress of the proposals, and the potential impact on existing habitat and wildlife within the estuary. [9] [16] Following a similar scheme with the Rance Tidal Power Station in Brittany, some marine fauna initially suffered, but a new equilibrium was achieved after ten years. [17]
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
The River Mersey is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part of the boundary between the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales and South West England. It extends from the smaller Severn Estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city and port of Bristol.
Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea.
The River Alt is an urban river that flows across Merseyside in England. The river has suffered from heavy pollution from industry and sewage upstream and run-off from farmland in its lower reaches. It empties into the River Mersey, near to where the Mersey itself flows into the Irish Sea. The river has benefited from clean-up schemes and a de-culverting process to improve its water quality and provide a better environment for wildlife.
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its very high tidal range, approximately 50 feet (15 m), creates valuable intertidal habitats and has led to the area being at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable tidal energy.
The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary have existed since the 19th century. The building of such a barrage would constitute an engineering project comparable with some of the world's biggest. The purposes of such a project have typically been one or several of: transport links, flood protection, harbour creation, or tidal power generation. In recent decades it is the latter that has grown to be the primary focus for barrage ideas, and the others are now seen as useful side-effects. Following the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study (2008–10), the British government concluded that there was no strategic case for building a barrage but to continue to investigate emerging technologies. In June 2013 the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published its findings after an eight-month study of the arguments for and against the Barrage. MPs said the case for the barrage was unproven. They were not convinced the economic case was strong enough and said the developer, Hafren Power, had failed to answer serious environmental and economic concerns.
The Rance Tidal Power Station is a tidal power station located on the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France.
The production of renewable energy in Scotland is a topic that came to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European, and even global standards, with the most important potential sources being wind, wave, and tide. Renewables generate almost all of Scotland's electricity, mostly from the country's wind power.
Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study is the name of a UK Government feasibility study into a tidal power project looking at the possibility of using the huge tidal range in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel to generate electricity.
The Outer Trial Bank is a circular artificial island in the Wash, East Anglia, England. It is one of two artificial islands constructed during the 1970s for a proposed UK governmental water resources scheme.
A tidal farm is a group of tidal stream generators used for production of electric power. The potential of tidal farms is limited by the number of suitable sites across the globe as there are niche requirements to make a tidal farm cost effective and environmentally conscious.
Steven Philip Rotheram is a British politician serving as Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Walton from 2010 to 2017.
A tidal stream generator, often referred to as a tidal energy converter (TEC), is a machine that extracts energy from moving masses of water, in particular tides, although the term is often used in reference to machines designed to extract energy from the run of a river or tidal estuarine sites. Certain types of these machines function very much like underwater wind turbines and are thus often referred to as tidal turbines. They were first conceived in the 1970s during the oil crisis.
A tidal barrage is a dam-like structure used to capture the energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or river due to tidal forces.
Atlantic Gateway, sometimes referred to as Ocean Gateway, is a proposed redevelopment strategy for North West England, centering on the corridor between Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The proposal is for development backed by £50 billion of investment over 50 years, making it one of the most expensive and expansive development projects in UK history.
A screw turbine is a water turbine that converts the potential energy of water on an upstream level into work. This hydropower converter is driven by the weight of water, similar to water wheels, and can be considered as a quasi-static pressure machine. Archimedes screw generators operate in a wide range of flows and heads, including low heads and moderate flow rates that are not ideal for traditional turbines and not occupied by high performance technologies.
Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay was a proposed tidal lagoon power plant that was to be constructed in Swansea Bay off the south coast of Wales, United Kingdom. Development consent was granted by the UK government in June 2015, and in June 2018 the Welsh Government approved the plan and offered to invest £200 million; however, later that month the UK government withdrew its support on value-for-money grounds. Other options to enable the proposal to go ahead were reportedly still being explored.
Centre Port is a proposed development across The Wash in Eastern England, which would link Norfolk and Lincolnshire by road. The plan is to link Hunstanton in Norfolk, with Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire, creating an 11-mile (18 km) road, with a port and a railway at the midway point. Additionally the development would be a tidal barrage to prevent sea flooding, and would use tidal power to create enough electricity to power 600,000 homes. Whilst no formal plans have yet been submitted, the scheme has come under widespread criticism from those living in the area and from wildlife groups.
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