Five Severn barrage plans to be unveiled

Robin McKie
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009

The Severn barrage project will take a step closer to realisation tomorrow when the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, announces a shortlist of five schemes for turning the estuary's tidal power into electricity. A total of 10 projects have been studied by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and half have been rated worthy of further scrutiny.
Around 5% of Britain's electricity could be generated by tapping the energy of the tidal waters that surge up the Severn. Engineers have estimated that a barrage across it would cost up to £15bn.
Schemes include a 10-mile barrage between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare, though this project is opposed by conservation groups, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which favour smaller, less disruptive projects. The government is committed to approving the best barrage project, or combination of projects, by 2010.