There have been a number of proposed tidal barrages over the years for the UK. Back in 2008, there was a plan to build a barrage across the Wash, but the plans were abandoned - partly because of the impact on wildlife. Now the plans are back again....
The Rance Estuary in France is an example of how this might look - I visited that many years ago.
The Wash is more local, and the EDP had a recent story on a plan for a barrage.
This would stretch, apparently, from Hunstanton to Skegness, and would protect the Fens from flood risk as well as leading to the development of a new container port. It would cost £2 billion.
Turbines beneath the structure will harness tidal energy from The Wash’s 780km2 tidal area, which is said to be enough to power circa 600,000 homes and businesses in the region. The infrastructure will provide a flood defence for the whole of The Wash area, extending to Peterborough and Cambridge, protecting more than one million people.The Netherlands have constructed some similar projects on a huge scale, and reclaimed land.
The Wash is the UK’s most important estuary for wild birds, home to England’s largest common seal colony and an important fishery. This is amongst the areas where
The developers are called Port Evo. They are looking to raise £5 million for a feasibility study.
Something tells me that this is unlikely to be built, because of the wider consequences for hundreds of square miles of coastline and the sheer scale of the development given the issues getting much smaller developments through.
One of the most interesting benefits would be a journey of just 20 minutes across the Wash, instead of it taking several hours to make the journey over to Lincolnshire.
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