Steelworkers who face unemployment due to Tata Steel’s announced job cuts in the South Wales region, could be bailed by the new jobs Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project would bring to the local community.
Following the announced 1,050 job cuts by Tata Steel UK, out of which 750 are at its Port Talbot-based business, the UK government is being called to expedite plans for developing a tidal power plant in the Swansea Bay.
Namely, Gherold Davies, Chairman of Fairwood Fabrications, a contractor for Tata Steel who may have to cut half its employees due to announced layoffs, has written to George Osborne, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking the government to advance Tidal Lagoon Power’s plans for a tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay, according to Bloomberg.
“If we get the first tidal lagoon away at Swansea, there are another five waiting, so there’s a whole new industry being created. It’s thousands of high-skilled, quality jobs. We need a form of reinvention to keep that traditional heavy industrial base running, and tidal lagoon’s perfect for that,” Davies said for Bloomberg .
Tidal Lagoon Power, the developer behind the lagoon, estimates the project could create around 2,000 jobs during the construction phase.
In addition, Stephen Kinnock, Aberavon MP, has called the UK government to approve Swansea Bay tidal lagoon, while committing to using steel sourced from Port Talbot for lagoon’s construction.
“The economic boost that the tidal lagoon will bring to the region is particularly needed now with this week’s news of 750 job losses at Tata Steel in Port Talbot. It will create hundreds of much needed jobs locally through its construction and operation, and can also provide critical support to our beleaguered steel industry because of the massive steel turbines, each with a diameter of 7.35 m, which will be at the heart of the project.
“The Government’s continued prevarication over agreeing a strike price with Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon is costing the lagoon project months, even years of delays, and is costing the Swansea Bay region vital jobs,” Kinnock was quoted as saying by South Wales Evening Post .
The UK government is supposedly reviewing the figures for the other planned lagoons in addition to the one in Swansea Bay, because, according to Tidal Lagoon Power, the costs will decrease as other lagoons in Cardiff, Newport and Colwyn Bay are built.
The subsidized price Tidal Lagoon Power is thought to be asking is £168 for MW/h with the contract duration of 35 years.