Banks of the Severn Estuary

River Severn's estuary, located near Cardiff and Bristol (UK), has some of the highest tides in the world, with a lot of potential to produce what could be about 5% of UK's electricity needs. The new fund, bringing £500,000, will be launched today to aid environmental entrepreneurs and small businesses to develop ideas for generating electricity from tidal power. A public consultation is under way on a shortlist of schemes to generate clean energy from tidal power. The shortlist includes a mix of barrages and lagoons. The UK government will consider the progress of fresh technologies before any decision about their acceptance is taken. The new fund is being managed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Welsh Assembly Government, Defra and the South West of England Regional Development Agency.

UK is trying to stick to its renewable energy and climate change targets – 20% of total energy consumption from renewable sources by the year 2020. The South West of England is already the home to some of the world's leading tidal power companies, according to South West Regional Development Agency. The new fund and tidal power project in Severn Estuary brings encouragement to businesses with early stage concepts to get involved. The ultimate goal is to make the most of the power potential of this still untapped resource.