Tidal Power: Project Scope
Our study (completed in September 2007) considered tidal power from a sustainable development perspective, as defined by the five principles of sustainable development agreed in 2005 by the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations. It was based on the following questions:
• What contribution can tidal power make to the mitigation of climate change and the need for sustainable and secure energy sources? |
• What is the UK’s tidal power resource, how is it distributed geographically, and what are the implications of deploying different tidal technologies on our ability to harness that resource? |
• What tidal power technologies are there in development or ready for deployment, and what is their near-term and long-term economic potential? |
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of these different technologies in comparison to each other, in particular their environmental impacts, embedded carbon emissions (direct and indirect), and compatibility with other technologies (e.g. devices downstream)? |
• What are the implications of large-scale (i.e. UK-wide) tidal development in the long-term, including the need for strategic planning, environmental and landscape impacts, managing the impact of climate change on existing coastlines, flood management impacts, and the economic impact on existing infrastructure and strategic interests (e.g. ports)? |
• What are the implications for the electricity supply system, including consideration of output variability and grid constraints? |
• What consideration needs to be given to innovation policy and the finance regime for energy supply projects, to realise the full potential of tidal power in the UK? |
• What would be the most sustainable long-term option for harnessing the tidal resource in the Severn Estuary considering the various technologies that could be deployed, including the main barrage options, but comparing them to the alternative options where they are mutually exclusive (this comparison would be conducted along the lines of the technology comparison described above)? What are the environmental constraints, and in particular the constraints imposed by EU Directives on Habitats and Birds? What are the potential impacts (positive and negative) on local communities and regional interests and how should these be compared? |
• What other tidal development opportunities and experience is there from around the UK, tidal stream in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and small-scale barrage options in England, Scotland, and Wales? |
• What are the key issues for public acceptability on tidal power and how should public engagement be approached by policy-makers in the future? |
Based on these key questions, research contracts were commissioned to address the following areas:
• UK tidal resource assessment: resource mapping of geographical and temporal distribution of the resource, potential electricity generation contribution, grid constraints, strategic policy and planning framework
• Tidal technologies assessment: summary of tidal technologies (deployed and in development), including economics, development horizons, life-cycle carbon emissions, long-term climate change implications, life expectancy, as well as comprehensive consideration of the environmental impacts of tidal technologies and economic and social factors associated with the technology
• Review of Severn barrage and non-barrage proposals: summary of various barrage and non-barrage options and their compatibility with other options, assessment of environmental impacts and the policy framework including EU Directives on Habitats and Birds, flood and sea level rise management options and impacts, navigation/fishery industry impacts, economics (including financing options), electricity generation/grid implications (including consideration of peak output and variability), life-cycle carbon emissions, life expectancy of the infrastructure, and implications for regional economic and infrastructure development and recreational opportunities
• Case studies: relevant examples of tidal resources, projects and technologies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The SDC invited a number of consultancies and academic institutions to tender for research contracts to produce a series of robust, independent and evidence-based reports looking at these issues.
The research reports supported and informed the development of a public-facing report by the SDC on the role of tidal power in a low carbon electricity system in the UK from a sustainable development perspective. The report served as the SDC position on tidal power, and included recommendations for policy-makers and informed the SDC’s advice to the UK Government, the Devolved Administrations and the SWRDA on the issues. The study had UK significance, considering important tidal resources in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as well as a review of options in the Severn Estuary.
The scope of the project did not extend to new primary research, feasibility studies for specific proposals, or strategic environmental assessment, although the SDC’s final report did suggest areas for future work.
Public and stakeholder engagement programme
The SDC believes that effective engagement is essential to the development of truly sustainable policy-making. The tidal power project had a significant public and stakeholder engagement component. The SDC is developing a comprehensive engagement programme which will inform and support the project and the development of the SDC’s position and any recommendations.
Engagement is particularly important for understanding new technologies such as tidal power, as new technologies represent an unknown quantity to many stakeholders. In the context of the Severn Estuary, the aim of the stakeholder and public engagement was to establish the key issues as well as areas of agreement and disagreement between stakeholders, which will inform the review of the competing options for the Severn tidal resource.
To fully understand the implications and impacts of the proposed tidal technologies, the SDC engaged with a range of stakeholders through a comprehensive engagement programme. Engagement was integrated into the research process, so that the engagement programme evolved and responded to the initial research findings. The engagement programme also aimed to gain a better understanding of the likely public reaction to tidal power.
Timeframes
The SDC completed the research stage of the project in March 2007, and published its final report and the evidence-based reports in September 2007.
