The Prudential financial services plan to invest up to £100m in a project to build a power-generating tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay, reports BBC News.
A project of total £850m scheme to harness tidal energy, it could power 120,000 homes for 120 years.
Office for National Infrastructure Planning is currently studying the feasibility of the 240 MW project.
ALSO READ : U.S. Navy awards $8 million for tidal energy growth
The Prudential is supposed to be the key investor of the project.
The six-mile-long seawall will be constructed from the docks to near Swansea University’s new Fabian Way campus.
The project is expected to be completed in two years, with doors open for 1,850 new construction jobs.
Once the project gets approved, work will start from next year, supplying energy to the National Grid from 2018.
Swansea’s lagoon could be the first in a series of six coastal lagoons – the other five may be larger projects, including one near Colwyn Bay in Conwy, and one in the Bristol Channel.
The six projects together could generate up to 30 terawatt hours of power per year, catering to 8 percent of the UK’s electricity needs.
ALSO READ North Wales Tidal to conduct coastal energy research program
Prudential is committed to invest in infrastructure projects that benefit the national economy. Prudential is also proud to play its part in the development of this world-leading renewable energy technology, noted, Tidjane Thiam, chief executive, Prudential.
Securing the backing of a world-renowned investment institution marks another major milestone for the Swansea Bay project and is a clear endorsement of the vision to introduce tidal lagoon infrastructure into the UK’s low carbon energy mix, commented, Mark Shorrock, chief executive, Tidal Lagoon Power.
Sabeena Wahid
[email protected]