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A Chinese marine engineering firm has been chosen to build the UK’s first tidal lagoon power project in Swansea Bay.
China Harbour Engineering Company has been named as the preferred bidder of a £300 million contract to provide a marine works package that will include the construction of the six-mile long lagoon wall.
The firm has established a subsidiary firm in the UK and says it wants to pursue a UK infrastructure investment programme over the next decade. Its investment strategy will include a focus on further tidal lagoon infrastructure projects in the UK.
Chief executive Lin Yi Chong said the company had taken a “strategic decision to enter the UK infrastructure investment and construction market”.
“We have invited Tidal Lagoon Power to work with us on the development of tidal lagoons in China and across Asia, and a memorandum of understanding will be signed shortly,” he added.
Tidal Lagoon Power said the delivery of the £1 billion project will “kick-start a programme of Chinese investment into UK infrastructure” and the “pursuit of a tidal lagoon development programme that could see British expertise and technology exported to Asia”.
Tidal Lagoon Power’s chief executive Mark Shorrock said China was “taking a leadership position in tackling the threat of climate change”.
“So a state owned enterprise makes a good partner when you wish to deploy multiple tidal lagoons quickly and cost effectively,” he continued. “Beginning in Swansea Bay, we aim to foster a new economic opportunity for collaboration in civil engineering between our two companies and nations.
“Given the lead by our respective governments, we are aiming to take on the greening of our energy economy in European and Asian locations that have eight or more metres of tidal range and are interested in low impact, secure and local sources of energy.”
A report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research last year said a planned fleet of tidal lagoon power plants could contribute £27 billion to the UK economy over the investment period 2015-2027.
The government included plans for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon in its National Infrastructure Plan last year. The project is poised begin construction this summer after securing £200 million in funding in February.
Read Utility Week’s analysis of tidal lagoon power here.
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