CAMPAIGNERS for a tidal barrage across Morecambe Bay and the Duddon Valley will get to put their case to government after Independent MP for Barrow and Furness John Woodcock won the promise of a government meeting.

Mr Woodcock said Energy Secretary Greg Clark had pledged to listen to the business case for the long-discussed barrages.

The Northern Tidal Powers Gateway group says barrages across the Morecambe Bay area could generate enough energy to power two million homes, as well as cutting journey times by enabling road bridges between Barrow and the Morecambe area and up the Duddon Valley.

Campaigners say they hope the need for lower-carbon energy will trigger investment in plans for a tidal power barrage with a highway running along the top.

In a question to Mr Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Mr Woodcock asked: “Will he meet the team behind the strategic business case which is being put together for the tidal barrage plan going across Morecambe Bay and the Duddon which could be transformative?”

Mr Clark replied stating he would be “very happy” to do so.

Barrow and Furness MP Mr Woodcock recently attended an awareness-raising tidal power business forum at Kendal Town Hall where the company behind the project revealed it is employing experts to draw up a strategic business case to put to government.

The Northern Tidal Powers Gateway, led by chairman Alan Torevell, would see an £8.5 billion tidal power gateway bridge installed across Morecambe Bay and the Duddon estuary, housing more than 130 tidal turbines. It is estimated these turbines would generate electricity equivalent to a small nuclear power plant.

Speaking after the parliamentary session, Mr Woodcock said: “Alan Torevell and his team are now investing in putting together a serious business case that I am looking forward to helping them make the case to government with, now we have secured the promise of a meeting with the Energy Minister.

"I have long been sceptical about the economics of a Morecambe Bay barrage but approaching climate chaos is changing the equation and we are approaching the moment where we should make a once-in-a-generation assessment of this visionary project.”

Mr Torevell said: “We greatly appreciate Mr Woodcock’s support and his timely appeal to the minister on our behalf.

"In addition to delivering predictable emission-free energy for up to two million homes, the project would have a transformational effect on the Morecambe Bay Economic Area and particularly on Barrow and Furness, creating thousands of new jobs through the construction of the tidal power gateway and the creation of a tidal power turbine manufacturing industry here in the North West.

"The road links would quite literally open up new routes for investment in Barrow and Furness, and the project itself would place the UK at the forefront of an exciting development in renewable energy generation.

“It is also important to understand the Morecambe Bay project could be the starting point for producing 10 per cent or more of the UK power needs through a series of tidal power projects around the UK. That, plus the long-term low price, should be set against the apparently high initial capital cost of our project.”