Tidal Lagoon Power has launched a £22m tender for the turbine manufacturing and pre-assembly plant for its up to 320MW Swansea Bay project.
The 100m-long hub will be located between the Kings and Queens Dock at Swansea Bay following a competitive tender of potential locations for the facility last year.
The facility will receive turbine components from manufacturers across Wales and the wider UK, with all machining and pre-assembly of the project’s 16 Andritz Hydro turbines taking place on site.
The pre-qualification period ends on 21 October, with invitations to tender to be sent out on 7 November. TLP expects to award the contract by 16 January.
TLP said the facility would initially employ up to 100 skilled workers, with an additional 150 project workers accommodated in an onsite office welfare area. The site would be “future-proofed for exponential market growth,” it added.
The Gloucester developer wants the site to be “beating heart” of UK efforts to be a world leader in tidal lagoons.
According to a report commissioned by TLP, the UK’s engineering, construction, steel and manufacturing industries could win contracts totalling over £800m at Swansea Bay and over £6bn at its proposed up to 2.8GW full-scale lagoon at Cardiff.
The ‘Ours to Own’ report claims the domestic market for tidal lagoon turbines and generators is £17bn and £24bn for tidal lagoon turbine housings. The potential for exports to international tidal lagoon market was valued at £30bn.
Chief executive Mark Shorrock said: “This report captures the hard work of today’s industrialists to ensure tidal lagoons are British-engineered, that the manufacturing supply chain is British, and that we seize and own what can be a £70bn sector for this nation.”
Image: Artist’s impression of Swansea Bay tidal lagoon (TLP)
