Sihwa_Lake_Tidal_Power_Station_aerial_view

The Mersey Barrage is a proposed scheme for building a

tidal barrage A tidal barrage is a dam-like structure used to capture the energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or river due to tidal forces. Instead of damming water on one side like a conventional dam, a tidal barrage allows water to flow ...

across the

Mersey Estuary The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

, between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, England.

History

The

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

is considered to be a suitable source of marine renewable energy in the United Kingdom, because of its strong current and

tidal range Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun, by Earth's rotation and by centrifugal force caused by Earth's prog ...

of up to , the second highest in the United Kingdom. A

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

and

UKAEA The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). T ...

report in 1984 identified a site between New Brighton and

Brocklebank Dock Brocklebank Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Bootle, connected to Langton Dock to the north and Canada Dock to the south. Carriers' Dock was origina ...

for a Mersey barrage. A 2006 study by

Peel Holdings The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

and the

North West Development Agency The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) was the regional development agency for the North West England region and was a non-departmental public body.NWDA Who We Are/ref> It was abolished on 31 March 2012. The Agency was responsible for ...

identified the River Mersey as having considerable potential for tidal power. A pilot project, using a water wheel to harness tidal power, was considered at

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

docks. At the same time, a tidal barrage plan was evaluated, capable of generating 700MW. A barrage scheme was abandoned in 2011, following a study by Peel Energy and the

. This proposal involved constructing a barrage between

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

on the Liverpool bank and

New Ferry New Ferry is an urban area on the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula, with the River Mersey to the east and the town of Bebington to the west. Within the boundaries of the historic count ...

on the Wirral bank. Although the study provided valuable insight, the preferred scheme was abandoned due to the expected lack of medium-term profitability.

Steve Rotheram Steven Philip Rotheram (born 4 November 1961) is a British politician serving as Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he was Member of Parliame ...

revived plans for a barrage as part of his 2017 election campaign. The 2018 study indicated that economics were more favourable than previously, but still fell short by 20%. In February 2020, following a year-long feasibility study, a tidal power proposal for the River Mersey was granted £2.5million in funding to further develop the plan. In December 2022, the

Liverpool City Region The Liverpool City Region is a combined authority area in North West England. It has six council areas: the five metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside (Liverpool, Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Knowsley, Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, St H ...

mayor announced an agreement between the City Region and

K-water The Korea Water Resources Corporation (), or K-water, is the governmental agency for comprehensive water resource development and providing both public and industrial water in South Korea. The Comprehensive Development Plan of Land in August 1966 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, who built and operates the

Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station is the world's largest tidal power installation, with a total power output capacity of 254 MW. When completed in 2011, it surpassed France's 240 MW Rance Tidal Power Station, which was the world's largest ...

, to carry out "reciprocal visits and information sharing". The Mersey Tidal Power Project was launched as "a scoping project" in March 2024. The projected power output is not stated but it is suggested that the scheme will be able to "power a million homes". The tidal barrage plan was put to public consultation in September 2024, starting the formal planning process.

Economic impact

A Mersey barrage has been predicted to be capable of producing between 1.0 and 1.5

terawatt-hour A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a SI unit, non-SI Units of measurement, unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. ...

s of electricity per year (0.11 to 0.17 GW), which is equivalent to two-thirds of

's 2017 electricity requirement. One design has proposed that cross-river public transport infrastructure is included in the construction.

Environmental impact

The estuary is designated as an internationally important protected area, for wading birds, ducks and fish. The

Lancashire Wildlife Trust The Lancashire Wildlife Trust or Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is a wildlife trust covering the county of Lancashire and parts of Greater Manchester and Merseyside in England. It includes all of the ceremonial cou ...

and the

Cheshire Wildlife Trust The Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Cheshire and parts of the counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. The trust's chairman is Bill Stothart. It manages 43 nature reserves totalling over 470 ...

are monitoring the progress of the proposals, and the potential impact on existing habitat and wildlife within the estuary. Following a similar scheme with the

Rance Tidal Power Station The Rance Tidal Power Station is a tidal power station located on the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France. Opened in 1966 as the world's first tidal power station, the 240-watt, megawatt (MW) facility was the largest such power statio ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, some marine fauna initially suffered, but a new equilibrium was achieved after tenyears.

References

External links

* {{authority control Proposed tidal power stations Coastal construction Geography of Merseyside River Mersey Proposed renewable energy power stations in England

History

Economic impact

Environmental impact

See also

References

External links