If there ever was a form of green energy which showed promise it is surely tidal power. Compared with wind farms and solar farms, tidal barrages have the potential to generate significant quantities of reliable energy. While the tides are intermittent in any one location, the times of high and low tide vary along the coast such that a string of them working in tandem could produce a steady load of electricity, whatever the weather and whatever the time of day.
So does that mean that the green lobby is cheering the publication of Charles Hendry’s report recommending the go-ahead for the construction of a tidal lagoon power station in Swansea Bay? You bet it doesn’t. Already the bird and fish lobbies are protesting. Wading birds, it transpires, would lose a bit of mud and sand at low tide, while a few salmon and trout might find their way into turbines (Natural Resources Wales predicts that 21 per cent of salmon passing through could be killed, though why they could be kept out with the same netting to keep fish in salmon and trout farms in Scottish lochs I don’t understand).
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