North West Energy Squared (NWE²) is planning to build a tidal energy barrage that would link Cumbria with Scotland in addition to producing clean energy.
The company plans to construct a tidal barrage across the Solway Estuary that would incorporate a road which would halve the distance between Cumbria and Scotland, from 220 km to 107 km, according to NWE².
The Solway Tidal gateway could produce approximately 12.06 TW/h, NWE² states, which would power an estimated 2.5 million homes.
The company estimates that the Solway Estuary tidal gateway would create 6,000 construction jobs a year over an 8 year period, plus 100 permanent jobs on the gateway, and 3,000 created or safeguarded due to improved connectivity.
The proposition is part of a larger scheme under which additional 5 tidal barrage projects would be built across UK.
“I can’t stress it too much – if we get this thing going, and I increasingly think we are going to, then we will be creating the first major combination of infrastructure and tidal energy production in the world,” NWE² Chairman Alan Torevel was quoted as saying by Daily Record.
NWE² is a Manchester-based company set up to examine the possibility of building connected tidal gateways across the six main estuaries of the north-west coast line.
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