Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones has called for Tidal Lagoon Power’s (TLP) proposed 320MW Swansea Bay project to be offered price support on the “same terms” as the under-construction Hinkley Point C nuclear plant.
In a letter to UK energy secretary Greg Clark, Jones said Swansea Bay should be given a Contract for Difference (CfD) worth £92.50 per megawatt-hour in 2012 prices for 35 years.
The CfD would represent a “joint offer” to TLP, which would also include a £200m equity and/or loan investment by the Welsh government.
“Such an offer would strike an appropriate balance between supporting a pathfinder project in line with the findings of your own Hendry review while providing value for money,” the letter stated.
“It would need to be a maximum, full and final offer from both governments.”
TLP chief executive Mark Shorrock told a BEIS select committee inquiry last month that the Gloucester developer is seeking a CfD worth £92.50/MWh for 60 years, inclusive of the equity investment by Cardiff.
The Swansea Bay project has been the subject of intense speculation in recent days with reports suggesting the UK government will refuse to back the project, which has yet to secure a marine licence from Natural Resources Wales and seabed licence from The Crown Estate.
Image: Proposed Swansea Bay project (Tidal Lagoon Power)
Wales seeks lagoon ‘Hinkley offer’
By EBS