A tidal power ‘mega project’ in one of Europe’s iconic waterways could power 1 million homes. But costs are huge
The River Mersey is one of Europe’s most iconic waterways. On top of being a major hub for shipbuilding and industry, it’s been a source of inspiration for a host of writers, artists and musicians over the years.
If all goes to plan, the Mersey could also play a major role in the U.K.’s sustainable future.
Authorities in Liverpool want the river to be home to a huge tidal power project which, they say, could power as many as 1 million homes, generating thousands of jobs for the region in the process.
If built, the facility would have a capacity of at least 1 gigawatt and make use of the Mersey’s tidal range, which is the U.K.’s second highest.
Speaking to CNBC, Martin Land, director of the Mersey Tidal Power Project, outlined how the system would work in practice.
The idea, he explained, is to center it on the creation of “a structure to hold back the tide, or to contain the tide — we let the height build up on one side, and the other side has a low level.”
“And then we let that water, that seawater, pass through turbines and generate electricity,” he added. “So it’s using the potential energy, which is the height difference of the tide.”
This setup is different from installations that use tidal stream turbines, which, in very simple terms, can often look a bit like underwater wind turbines.
Land told CNBC that the project is coming to the end of its concept phase, with a number of scenarios on the table.
“We still have an option for a barrage location, which would cross from the Birkenhead side … the left bank of the Mersey, to the right bank, the Liverpool side,” he said. “Or, alternatively, it could be a lagoon.”
Spanning a body of water, a tidal barrage resembles a dam. The International Renewable Energy Agency describes tidal lagoons as being similar to a barrage, but adds that “they are not necessarily connected to the shore” and are able to “sit within the ocean.”
Tidal barrage systems in operation today include EDF’s 240 megawatt La Rance tidal power plant in France, and South Korea’s 254 MW Sihwa Lake tidal power plant, currently the world’s largest.
A long road
Initial proposals for a tidal barrage spanning the Mersey were formulated in 1924. The current project has taken a number of steps forward in recent times.
In December 2022, an agreement with the Korea Water Resources Corporation — the owner and operator of the Sihwa Lake facility — was signed.
In a statement at the time, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said K-Water had agreed to “share tidal power knowledge.”
The agreement, it added, would see “K-water and the Combined Authority working closely together to explore possibilities for tidal power.”
The Combined Authority in Liverpool is bullish about the prospects for its tidal power project, stating on its website that “tidal power’s time has come” thanks to technological improvements and the climate emergency.
In a statement sent to CNBC, Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool City Region, struck a similar tone.
“Once operational, Mersey Tidal Power would have the potential to become the world’s largest tidal power scheme,” he said.
Tidal power facilities have been around for decades — EDF’s La Rance dates back to the 1960s — but a number of projects have made great strides in recent years.
In February 2023, for example, an Edinburgh-headquartered firm said its tidal stream array had achieved a world first by producing 50 gigawatt hours of electricity.
And back in July 2021, a tidal turbine weighing 680 metric tons started grid-connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, an archipelago located north of mainland Scotland.
In October of the same year, plans for a £1.7 billion (around $2.05 billion) project incorporating technologies including underwater turbines in waters off Swansea, a coastal city in Wales, were announced.
Renewables and nature
Like many renewable energy projects around the world, concerns have been raised that the development of a major tidal power facility in the Mersey could have a significant effect on the environment.
Cheshire Wildlife Trust, for instance, states it is “keen to support renewable energy schemes in the right place” but adds that “a barrage scheme in the Mersey Estuary has the potential to cause significant environmental damage.”
More generally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that one “potential disadvantage of tidal power is the effect a tidal station can have on plants and animals in estuaries of the tidal basin.”
“Tidal barrages can change the tidal level in the basin and increase turbidity (the amount of matter in suspension in the water),” it adds. “They can also affect navigation and recreation.”
As previously noted, at the moment it’s still to be decided if the scheme planned for the Mersey will be a barrage or lagoon.
For his part, the Mersey Tidal Power Project’s Martin Land sought to emphasize that there was “well developed guidance for the environment impact assessment that you have to perform for mega projects … for big infrastructure projects.”
“We know that in developing project options we need to consider the impact of a scheme on the river and estuary and also whether this can help with the regional issue of rising sea levels,” he added.
Government support needed
Proposals for the Mersey Tidal Power Project represent yet another example of how the U.K. is looking to harness its extensive coastline and become a force in the emerging marine energy sector.
While there is excitement about the plans, a huge amount of work still needs to be done to get the development off the ground.
Among other things, any design will need to incorporate navigation locks for the significant number of ships, both large and small, that travel along the river.
If fully realized, the project’s cost would be significant — the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority calls it a “multi-billion-pound” development.
Given the sheer scale of the project, backing from central government in London will undoubtedly be needed, a point Rotheram acknowledged in his statement to CNBC.
“We have shown that we have the skills, capabilities — and the political will — to make Mersey Tidal Power a success,” he said.
“Now we just need the government to match our ambition with the funding to turn it into a reality.”
During his interview with CNBC, Martin Land echoed Rotheram’s point.
“Government action will allow us the confidence to move forward,” he said. “We’d like to move into single scheme selection this year.”
“And we’d like to get into the formal consenting process so that we can get on with construction and have this operational in the early [20]30s.”
British Columbia got its first 400 kW DC fast charger last week at Canadian C-store chain On The Run, but that’s not the good part. As part of a limited time offer, these chargers are FREE!
The Canadian convenience store chain just took the wraps off its new, ABB-developed, 400 kW chargers earlier this month, but they’re already planning to bring the ultra-fast 400 kW dispensers to at least four more locations in BC this spring, and have them online just in time for the summer road trip season – something On The Run hopes its customers will appreciate.
“The A400 charger delivers an enhanced customer experience, with reliability and performance from a 32-inch screen to higher power charging sessions and power sharing,” reads the company’s official announcement, via LinkedIn. “Download the Journie Rewards app to start the charge – free for a limited time.”
On The Run’s new 400 kW ABB DC fast chargers are compatible with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and can accommodate Tesla and other NACS-equipped vehicles with an adapter. That said, the company seems to imply that Tesla drivers in particular will have a maximum charging speed of “just” 50 kW, which feel hilarious (given the current state of affairs between Tesla and the Canadian government), but probably isn’t.
In addition to the ABB A400 400 kW units shown here, On The Run locations also employ the ABB Terra 184 dispensers rated at 180 kW. On The Run plans similar deployments at the four BC locations mentioned above, as well as two more each in Quebec and Ontario slated to go live towards the end of this year.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk once mocked 350 kW charging speed as being “for a child’s toy,” despite the fact that, nearly nine years later, his own cars and Superchargers can barely make it to 325 kW while others have sailed right on past. I made fun of that fact on the Quick Charge episode shown, above – and, while I do think it’s funny and relevant, the much more relevant piece of news here is that companies like BP Pulse, Revel, and Wallbox are actively deploying 400 kW solutions, today (while others hit the same mark as far back as 2017).
It’s just a fact: Tesla has fallen way behind.
SOURCE | IMAGES: On The Run, via Electric Autonomy.
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Terawatt Infrastructure‘s first medium- and heavy-duty electric charging truck stop in California is now online, in Rancho Dominguez.
Located 12 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the private Rancho Dominguez site, which is shared among multiple fleets, will support electric trucking fleet operations in and out of the largest container ports in the US.
First customers include Dreaded Trucking, Hight Logistics, PepsiCo, Quick Container Drayage, Southern Counties Express, Tradelink Transport, and WestCoast Trucking & Warehousing.
Terawatt’s electric charging truck stop features 20 pull-through and bobtail DC fast charging stalls with a capacity of 7 megawatts (MW), enabling charging for up to 125 trucks per day using a simple reservations system. Terawatt’s site features a proprietary charge management system, in-house technicians, 24/7 customer service, and onsite parts management.
“This launch underscores growing collaboration between enterprises, shippers, carriers, and charging infrastructure providers to advance sustainable technologies across logistics and transportation operations, especially in the medium and heavy-duty sectors,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and cofounder of Terawatt. Palmer added that the company will bring another charging site online in Rialto, California, in June.
Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers in September 2024 to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, the “first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor.” Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday:
Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump’s recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes.
The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1’s federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024.
The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes.
“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “We encourage the administration to quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”
As Electrek reported, Equinor secured $3 billion to finance Empire Wind 1 in January. The total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility as of March 31 was around $1.5 billion.
As of March 31, Empire Wind has a gross book value of around $2.5 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (pictured above), which was expected to become the US’s largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind.
In response to BOEM’s stop work order, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the following statement:
Every single day, I’m working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.
As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.
Equinor says it’s considering appealing BOEM’s order.
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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
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