Environment Agency delivers blow to Severn barrage plans

Environment Agency boss Lord Chris Smith has delivered a major blow to the government's plans for a giant marine energy project in the Severn Estuary, hinting strongly that the watchdog would oppose proposals for a 8.6GW tidal barrage between Weston-super-Mare and Cardiff.

The Weston Barrage was one of five tidal energy projects short listed by the government last week as part of its low carbon industrial transition strategy. It is estimated that the £5bn project could provide up to five per cent of the UK's electricity requirements and as such is widely thought to be the amongst the government's preferred options.

However, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper Lord Smith suggested that the project's impact on local wetlands and fisheries would be so large that the Environment Agency would be likely to oppose the plans.

"The great wall across the Severn channel poses the classic environmental dilemma," said Smith. "It would generate five per cent of all the UK's electricity needs but at a huge cost in terms of fishing and habitats. These immense environmental impacts outweigh the carbon reduction benefits which you would get. We are advising the government on this pretty strongly."

The project would result in nearly 35,000 hectares of protected wetlands being inundated and is being opposed by a coalition of green groups including WWF and the RSPB.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said that the watchdog had not formally expressed opposition to the Weston project, but she added that Lord Smith's comments reflected current thinking within the Agency.

The short list does, however, include a number of projects that would have a significantly lower impact on the local environment, including two proposals for tidal lagoons.

Smith hinted that the Agency could support some of these smaller scale projects, arguing that tidal energy had a critical role to play in the UK's future energy mix.

"There must be ways of harnessing tidal power from the estuary without the gross impacts that the Weston scheme would have," he told The Guardian. "I regret that we are not putting as much effort as we could into tidal reefs and defences. We should be addressing the possibility of tidal power around the country. Tidal energy should be one of the key ways of generating electricity."

In related news, the government this weekend admitted that it is yet to distribute any money from a £50m marine development fund set up in 2004.

According to reports in The Observer, tidal and wave energy firms have found it difficult to comply with the rules governing the Marine Renewable Deployment Fund (MRDF) and as a result none of the money earmarked for investment in installing working systems has yet been distributed.

The government said that new funding announced as part of last week's renewable energy strategy, including a new £22m investment fund and an additional £9.5m for the proposed Wave Hub testing site off the coast of Cornwall, would address the problem by providing firms with help developing prototype systems that can then access the MRDF financing.