Quote:
Originally Posted by Taf
Every time a hydroelectric plan has been put forward for The Severn, most of the money went to consultants before the ideas were rejected.
And usually rejected due to the effect on migrant seabirds.
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The Severn is a different kettle of (oho!) fish. Likewise the Mersey where a similar tidal barrage plan has been mooted.
Schemes like this fundamentally alter enormous swathes of wild habitat and if the whole reason we’re doing it is to be more responsible stewards of the planet, that makes them a non-starter.
There are alternatives, such as building tidal pools in the estuaries and generating power from the filling and emptying of them, but these would be on a much smaller scale.
TBH I think the future of tidal power generation probably lies in free-floating turbines like this one:
https://www.orbitalmarine.com/
There is a fully-functioning prototype deployed off Orkney and it’s rated at 2MW, which isn’t to be sniffed at.