Marine Energy Wales has welcomed the announcement of the proposed £1.7bn Blue Eden project in Swansea.
Including a 9.5km tidal lagoon structure, Blue Eden is being led by Bridgend-based DST Innovations and business partners, with support from Swansea Council and Associated British Ports.
The project – being funded by the private sector – would be sited along an extensive area of land and water, to the south of the Prince of Wales Dock in the SA1 area of Swansea.
Blue Eden also includes a floating solar farm, a data centre, a high-tech battery manufacturing plant, a battery storage facility and many other features that will help place Swansea at the global forefront of renewable energy innovation.
The project is estimated to create over 2,500 permanent jobs and support a further 16,000 jobs across Wales and the UK, while creating additional jobs during its construction.
Blue Eden would be delivered in three phases over 12 years. Subject to planning consent, work on site could start by early 2023.
Jess Hooper, Marine Energy Wales Programme Manager, said: “We are keen to see how this lagoon on Swansea’s coast can be realised to the benefit of local people and net zero targets, and how it can help kick-start this green industry in Wales.
“The multi-purpose nature and associated added value built into the project in the form of the battery storage, data centre, housing, floating solar and more, offers great promise for sustainable solutions that go beyond decarbonising our electricity generation and storage needs.
“We look forward to working with DST as MEW members to take this project forward.”
Business and university leaders in Swansea and Wales have already given the project their support, citing its potential impact on jobs and the green economy.
The newly-designed tidal lagoon forming part of the scheme would feature state-of-the-art underwater turbines generating 320 megawatts of renewable energy.
The energy generated by the lagoon and solar farm would be used on site, but there is also scope for 32% of it to be exported onto the grid for the benefit of local residents and businesses. The amount of green energy consumed by the Blue Eden development would also save a significant amount of energy being taken from the grid in future.
