Severn Barrage would repay carbon cost in months
The payback period of constructing the Severn Barrage to generate electricity would be less than six months, according to a study published in the Water & Environment Journal of the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM). The study took into account the production, transportation and construction of the materials that would be used.
Within a year of operating at 85% of annual output, the construction-related costs of the whole project could be paid back.
The Severn Barrage project is the largest single source of renewable energy available to the UK. A barrage 16 km long would provide 5% of the UK’s annual electricity demand, which is 25% of the UK target to cut emissions by 2020 and comparable to that of all other renewable-energy projects currently operating in the UK.
