Liverpool City Region host Tidal Symposium with South Korea’s K-Water to discuss Mersey Tidal Power Project
Offshore Energy Alliances’ Merseyside Chair, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority recently hosted colleagues from South Korea, led by Jang Byeong-hoon, Executive Vice-President of K-Water, operator of the world’s largest tidal power scheme.
The visit to Merseyside was a valuable opportunity to share technical insights as Liverpool City Region develop their own tidal range project; Mersey Tidal Power Project.
Martin Land, Director of the Mersey Tidal Power Project and Offshore Energy Alliance Partner, said:
“It was a pleasure to host our guests from South Korea, K-water, who operate the largest tidal range scheme in the world. The week-long visit was an opportunity for us to listen to K-water discuss tidal range and also energy, low carbon and innovation, which is what we’re all about in the Liverpool City Region.
“I think the brilliant thing about tidal range is that we’re trying to build something that will operate for more than 100 years. It’s not just about net zero for 2050, it’s about net zero for 2150 and, of course, our Liverpool City Region ambition is to be there by 2040. We need government and industry to come along with us on this journey.
“We’re not the first people to do this but we want to be the first in the UK, so we look at the people who’ve already built it. We’re learning from what they know now and what they would have done differently. This knowledge will make us do better as it is tried and tested.”
Kate Gilmartin, Chief Executive of the British Hydropower Association, who chaired the symposium, said:
“There are multiple co-benefits of delivering something like the Mersey Tidal Scheme. Not only are we thinking about the supply chain, job creation and the skills, it is also about local deliverable low carbon energy and having an impact on affordability for consumers.”
The Mersey Tidal Project has the ability to further expand low carbon energy across Merseyside and communities across the OEA regions and the wider UK. The project would create opportunities and benefits for these communities for years to come.
A video summarising the event can be found here.
Published: 13 November 2023
