General Electric and Andritz Hydro have been selected as preferred bidders to the £1 billion Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon infrastructure project.
The two companies, bidding together for the ~£300m contract to supply sixteen bidirectional turbines to the world’s first tidal lagoon power plant, have committed to a majority of British large turbine components, to British generators, and to the operation of a dockside Turbine Assembly Plant in Wales that will employ an initial 100 skilled workers. The turbines will be based on Andritz Hydro global technology.
Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said: “Today’s announcement by these two global businesses is a massive vote of confidence in our highly skilled workforce.
“This project, if planning consent is granted, has the potential to transform the South Wales economy by creating hundreds of jobs and countless supply chain opportunities for local businesses across the region.”
Working with the Welsh Government, Tidal Lagoon Power, developer of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, has shortlisted three potential sites in the Swansea Bay City Region (comprising Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire) for a 100,000 square foot Turbine Assembly Plant that will scale operations as the sector develops at home and internationally.
Initially employing 100 skilled workers and capable of shipping one 7.35m diameter runner turbine a month, the facility is expected to scale operations by six times by 2018, shipping at least one turbine a week as the UK moves to the construction of full-scale tidal lagoons.
Tidal Lagoon Power intends to follow the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, scheduled to commence construction later this year, with five full-scale tidal lagoons in UK waters. Between them, the six projects could provide 8% of the UK’s electricity for the next 120 years.
Last year, a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that the emergence of a global tidal lagoon industry could present an export industry valued at £70bn to the UK economy.
Source: Tidal Lagoon Power; Image: Andritz Hydro