Climate Change Minister Julie James has just announced the successful applicants of the Welsh Government’s £750,000 Tidal Lagoon challenge.

The challenge was announced at the Marine Energy Wales Conference by First Minister Mark Drakeford in March 2023, where he said the funding would be made available for at least three research projects working on tidal lagoon technology.

David TC Davies MP, Secretary of State for Wales outlined the UK Government’s support for the floating offshore wind and tidal stream sectors in a virtual address to hundreds of delegates at the conference. He said:

“I was delighted to speak at the Marine Energy Wales Conference. This is a sector that is vital to the UK Government’s net zero ambitions and to our mission to grow the economy of Wales, create jobs and spread prosperity.

“There is a huge amount of very exciting work underway, which the UK Government is proud to support, ranging from developing floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, supporting the budding tidal stream industry on Anglesey and our wider investments in Freeports and decarbonisation projects.

“Wales’s abundance of natural renewable resources is one of our nation’s greatest assets which – if harnessed – can help secure our energy supply and drive long term economic growth. There’s an exciting future ahead.”

The three successful lead organisations for the Tidal have been named as:

• Swansea University in the Environment category
• Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult in the Engineering and Technical category
• Cardiff University in the socio-economic and finance category

Speaking at the Marine Energy Wales conference which took place last week, Climate Change Minister Julie James said:

“We are a strong supporter of marine energy and the incredible opportunity presented by Wales’s coastline.

“Congratulations to each of these projects. I am excited how the research will help to move the tidal lagoon sector in Wales forward by developing the tidal lagoon schemes whilst also recognising the potential value of this work for other marine industries.”

At the conference, the Minister also announced that up to £1 million will be match funded by Milford Haven Port Authority for preparatory work to enable future floating offshore wind projects to deploy from Pembroke.

This builds on a similar match-funded grant made to Associated British Ports for early-stage work at Port Talbot announced in January 2023.

Tom Sawyer, Chief Executive at the Port of Milford Haven, said:

“This welcome investment support from Welsh Government will help the Port of Milford Haven in its mission to make sure Pembrokeshire remains in the driving seat of the energy transition. Knowing the type and extent of rock, gravel and silts here is vital if we are going to understand what will be involved in engineering the next evolution of Pembroke Port.

“Offshore renewable energy offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring sustainable economic growth and rewarding careers for our current and future generations.

“This early-stage, preparatory work is an important first step in realising our ambition to create a future energy ready port facility at Pembroke Port, helping our region get a head-start in the global race to host developers of floating offshore wind (FLOW) technology.

“We know FLOW developers will need extensive deep-water dockside facilities to support installation and maintenance of wind farms in the Celtic Sea. With additional investment in infrastructure, Pembroke Port would be the best equipped, deepest, most sheltered, and closest port for FLOW developers in the Celtic Sea. Combined with Pembrokeshire’s heavy engineering cluster, energy transmission and distribution in situ, and a growing globally renowned business cluster backed by R&D, there is massive potential for growth.”

The three winning projects were:

Category: Environment

Project Title: Enabling tidal lagoon consents: providing fish migration data, and developing and validating an acoustic fish deterrence system for twaite shad

Organisations: Swansea University, Fish Guidance Systems Ltd, Natural England, Batri Ltd & DST Innovations Ltd

Summary: This project will use fish tagging and monitoring to test the effectiveness of acoustic fish deterrence (AFD) as a mitigation measure for tidal range deployment.

Category: Engineering and Technical

Project Title: FLOMax Flexible Lagoon Operation for Maximal Value project.

Organisations: Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Cardiff University, Intertek and Western Gateway

Summary: This research will quantify the value of developing tidal range power to aid government/policy decision making and inform funding approaches, strike pricing and potential state support measures.

It will calculate the value to local communities, industry, and a future decarbonised electricity network.

Category: Socio-Economic and Financial

Project Title: Tidal Lagoon Schemes: Ownership, Equity and Finance

Organisations: Cardiff University, Western Gateway, British Hydropower Association Ltd

Summary: The project aims to understand how different ownership and linked development/financing models might impact how far tidal range developments have positive impacts on the Welsh economy.