Barrage entrepreneur hits back at criticism
THE entrepreneur behind the Severn Barrage Project has come out fighting in the wake of criticism - declaring: “We mean business”.
Plans for a £15billion barrage from Brean across the Severn Estuary had been rocked by claims the project is not financially viable and its power could be produced at a cheaper cost.
The ten-mile Severn Barrage, which could stretch from Lavernock Point in Wales to Brean Down had been earmarked to supply around 5% of the UK’s electricity within 14 years - leading Energy Secretary John Hutton to describe the project’s potential as “breathtaking”.
But an independent report into the project - released last week - suggested other green technologies could harness the same amount of energy more cheaply.
Analysis from consultancy group Frontier Economics also claimed that the proposal to use taxpayers’ money to build the dam across the estuary would not, under existing Treasury rules, warrant special government subsidies or any other form of public investment.
The group assessed the justification for public funding of a large Severn barrage and compared its cost with the cost of generating the same amount of energy in the UK using other renewable technologies.
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Matthew Bell, author of the report, said: “It is hard to think of reasons for the public sector to build or operate a barrage which would not be equally applicable to many other projects and assets that sit in the private sector.
“Not only is the private sector more than able to finance a scheme of this scale but, even using the most conservative estimates of costs, the barrage is one of the most expensive options for clean energy generation there is.”
The report concludes the government’s renewables target could probably be met using cheaper green technologies and says considerable new evidence would be needed to make a large barrage in the Severn estuary an attractive option.
But Gareth Woodham, the Welsh businessman behind the barrage project, rubbished the report’s claims.
He told the Weekly News: “The only people aware of what the proposals are, are the landowners.
“How can another company know our project? They have no idea how the scheme runs and they have not seen our business plan.
“All the environmental issues will be looked at over the next two years - and the project is very viable.”
The future of the project is currently being assessed in a two-year Government feasibility study.