Huhne scraps Severn barrage tidal energy scheme
October 18, 2010
Controversial £30bn plans for a Severn estuary barrage tidal energy project have been scrapped.
Supporters had claimed the 10-mile (16km) dam stretching from Somerset to south Wales could have produced up to 5% of the UK's energy.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said a study had found there was "no strategic case" for the scheme.
He also announced eight potential sites for building new nuclear power stations by 2025.
They are at Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool, Tees; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk and Wylfa, in Anglesey.
The Severn barrage had been intended to run from Weston-super-Mare to Cardiff.
The feasibility report found it would be difficult to attract private investment and the project represented "high risk".
It was one of five shortlisted schemes to harness renewable energy from the tides of the Severn Estuary, which has the second-largest tidal range in the world with 42ft (12.8m) tides.
The barrage would have harnessed water power using a hydro-electric dam, but would be filled by the incoming tide rather than by water flowing downstream.
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