Cambridge Zero Policy Forum supports tidal lagoons and a whole-life and whole-system view of their deployment

An ambitious multidisciplinary report from the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum ( https://www.zero.cam.ac.uk/)
has highlighted many excellent recommendations to encourage and incentivise a Green Recovery.

Of interest, in particular, to supporters of the North Wales Tidal Lagoon is their recommendation that investing in resilient and sustainable infrastructure requires a whole-system, whole-life view of infrastructure and the built environment.

The design life of a tidal lagoon, such as the North Wales Tidal Lagoon, is typically about 120 years, with actual life possibly double that figure. This compares favourably to other low-carbon energy sources which will have to be decommissioned and rebuilt a number of times during that period; the lifecycle of a nuclear plant may span 40 - 60 years whilst off-shore wind farms are expected to last 20 to 30 years.

Not only do tidal lagoons have a much longer operating life, they offer significant other benefits. In North Wales the contribution to protecting coastal communities from rising sea levels and increasingly frequent storm surges will become essential for our children and grandchildren.

A whole-system, whole-life assessment would recognise and value these important co-benefits - highlighting the long-term cost-effectiveness and value for money of tidal range proposals such as the North Wales Tidal Lagoon.