Professor Peter Guthrie, Prof-essor of Engineering for Sustainable Development at Cambridge University, has been part of the study team led by consultants Buro Happold.
He said: “The whole principle of the study is that the technologies under consideration must be proven, but they would be used in innovative new ways. Water-wheels produce less energy than marine current turbines, but are robust and require low mainte-nance. We are trying to be inno-vative and novel, but also reduce the risk to a minimum.”
He continued: “We have been searching for a way to generate renewable energy on the river that would bring jobs and investment but we must also respect the Mersey estuary’s interna-tional importance for wildlife such as wading birds.”
The study was co-sponsored by Peel Holdings, owner of the Peel Ports, and the NRDA, which says it is committed to tackling climate change in the region.
Peel’s chairman John Whittaker said: “This is an important step to developing a realistic proposal which can gather public and government backing.”
Tim Bownes, chief engineer at Peel Ports, said: “We are looking at technologies available for generating electrical power. It has already been established that it is tidal flow, not wave power that would be the most suitable method for the Mersey.
“There are different schemes that could be utilised, some visi-ble and some hidden. It may be a scheme will be trialled as part of a wide consultation process.”
Many of the technologies being mooted are so new that they are still under development, so a pilot project is likely to be recom-mended to allow testing before full implementation.
Walter Menzies, chief executive of the Mersey Basin Campaign, said that the project would need to be run as a commercial proposition but he was confident financial backing could be found and that harnessing of the region’s tidal power will be done in some form, possibly within the next 10 years.
He said: “There are relatively few tidal estuaries with the tidal reach of the Mersey. We have a huge opportunity to be something really special. Renewable energy is the future of this coun-try and this would be one of the biggest, most significant renew-able energy projects in Britain”.
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