§ Mr. Gerald BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about progress on the Severn barrage studies.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe report summarising the work by the Severn Tidal Power Group on the Severn barrage is being published today by HMSO in the Department's energy paper series. Copies are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament. The £4 million study was jointly funded by the Severn Tidal Power Group, the Central Electricity Generating Board and my Department. I am grateful to them for their contribution to the study and also to the many other participants in the work.
The study gives a clearer picture, than hitherto, on costs and performance of a tidal barrage and on regional and environmental issues. However, much further work, particularly on environmental issues and the organisation and financing issues of a Severn barrage remains to be done. Work to address these issues will be undertaken during the next two years. In the meantime, essential site specific environmental work will continue.
As part of the privatisation and restructuring of the electricity supply industry the Government are setting up arrangements which should be very attractive to suppliers of renewable sources of energy but it will of course be for the industry to determine the financial viability of each project.
The Department will be funding generic tidal R and D in support of site specific work on the Severn, Mersey and other estuaries. This work mainly addresses environmental issues. The total cost of generic environmental studies completed since 1986 and currently under way amounts to £1 million.