Marine Energy for the North West
Lib Dems in the North West this weekend called on the Government to task Great British Energy with the development and implementation of a strategy for the exploitation of Marine Energy.
This should include an analysis of cost cutting opportunities that may be derived from a rolling programme of implementation, design competitions for civil and electronic engineering inputs to the programme and detailed surveys of potential locations to enable more accurate construction cost predictions and the identification of optimal sites for such infrastructure.
We also call for Great British Energy to study the potential societal gains additional to the provision of further clean energy capacity to address flood defence and environmental benefits, opportunities for contributions to transport infrastructure and economic development opportunities.
It is especially relevant in the North West as the Irish Sea is unique in having exceptionally high tidal ranges at multiple locations throughout the length of its coastline. These provide opportunities for the construction of estuarine barrages or coastal lagoons for the generation of Marine Energy.
The call came as the Liberal Democrats North West Spring Conference backed a motion on tidal energy.