A quarry on The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, Southwest England is a crucial step closer to becoming part of a landmark renewable energy project costing around €1.01 billion (£800 million), reports the West Briton newspaper.
The British Government announced it has started in-depth discussions with Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd, which is aiming to build the world’s first tidal lagoon power plant in Swansea Bay, South Wales.
The scheme would, the West Briton reports, see 1.5 million of Cornish quarry stone shipped from Dean Quarry near St Keverne to Swansea Bay, where it would form the breakwater for the project.
The developers of the €954million-€1.08 billion (£750-850 million) project said their application is the first step to developing lagoon technology that could meet 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs from the tides.
If it goes ahead, the scheme would involve a 9.5km wall built around Swansea Bay, creating a lagoon in the Severn Estuary with turbines that can harness the incoming and outgoing tides to generate power 14 hours a day.
It would provide renewable power for 120,000 homes for 120 years, saving 236,000 tonnes of carbon a year and creating 1,850 construction jobs as well as 150 long term jobs in operation and leisure facilities created on the lagoon.
