London Eye architect proposes 14-mile tidal power station off Somerset coast | Hydropower

The architect of the London Eye wants to build a vast tidal power station 14 miles off the Somerset coast that could help Britain meet growing demand for electricity to power artificial intelligence and create a new racetrack that would allow cyclists to glide across the Bristol Channel.

Julia Barfield, who designed the Eye and i360 observation tower in Brighton, is part of the team preparing the £11bn bid. It will meander from Minehead to Watchet and use 125 underwater turbines to harness the power of the second highest tidal range in the world.

The proposal comes as concerns grow that the rapidly growing use of artificial intelligence in Britain will increase carbon emissions unless more renewable energy sources become available. The AI ​​boom is expected to contribute to sharp increases in electricity demand across the UK. estimated this month could more than double by 2050.

“If the decision is to continue with more and more adoption of artificial intelligence – and I’m surprised this isn’t being questioned more during the climate emergency – then it would be better with a renewable energy source,” Barfield said. “Data centers can double energy demand, and it is a predictable and reliable source.”

The dam will not span the full width of the canal, instead curving towards the Somerset coast with a maximum output of 2.5 GW, not much less than the peak energy that would be created by the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station just 12 miles to the east. Electricity will be sufficient for 2 million homes.

The vision includes a trail, a watersports marina, a lido and an observation tower atop the semicircular dam for walkers and cyclists looking to brave the southwest. Local MP Rachel Gilmour, who backed the plan, said the road would “become absolutely iconic”.

The designers suggested that it might also be possible to temporarily install data centers within the structure and thus benefit from cheap seawater cooling. There are hopes for oyster and mussel beds, floating solar panels and a coastal amphitheater to boost the economy of Minehead, once a popular holiday destination and now one of Britain’s poorest 20%.

The UK’s latest energy policy states that tidal and wave energy could play a role “if their costs can be reduced”.

“We have people who want to fund this, but they will only do it if the government supports it,” said Aidan Clegg, the consortium’s chief executive. “They need to take this seriously. This is not hypothetical; we have a strong plan.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are open to considering well-developed proposals that demonstrate strong value for money to harness tidal range energy in bays and estuaries around our coastlines. AI energy council brings together the likes of Neso [the National Energy System Operator]”EDF, Microsoft and Google are solving the energy demands of AI, exploring investment attraction opportunities and supporting the development of low-carbon energy for data centres.”

Tidal power is more predictable than wind and solar, although there are several hours each day when the tides rotate with little or no power. Supporters West Somerset Lagoon It is believed that the project will last 120 years and therefore produce energy cheaper than nuclear energy.

It was first designed a few years ago with the aim of reducing the UK’s carbon footprint. Since then, the AI ​​revolution has begun and is now on track to significantly increase energy demand. Neso, the UK’s national energy system operator, guess Electricity demand for data centers will triple by 2035. The vast numbers of microprocessors needed to train and run AI models and store the ever-increasing mountains of data on which the technology-enabled 21st-century economy depends will account for the largest portion of the overall increase in electricity demand in the commercial sector.

The West Somerset Lagoon is the latest in a series of proposals to harness the tidal power of the Severn estuary. In the 1980s, further lagoons were proposed in the narrower part of the estuary closer to Bristol; More recently, a full dam has been proposed from near Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare, raising concerns about a large-scale and irreversible change to the estuary system. Recent sponsors of the idea say the lagoon will not disrupt transport channels to the ports of Bristol and Cardiff and is outside protected areas such as local nature reserves and private conservation areas.

“The whole area of ​​Minehead and West Somerset is an area of ​​deprivation and this project will lead to positive transformation,” Barfield said. “It will create skilled full-time jobs, an area for water sports, a swimming pool, a visitor centre, an observation tower and cultural facilities. It could also become a center for the farming of mussels, seaweed and oysters. These are the types of businesses that local youth could develop as the tidal range would be more controlled.”