Swansea Tidal Lagoon Debate

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Swansea Tidal Lagoon

Craig Williams Excerpts
Tuesday 8th March 2016

(8 years, 9 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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Simon Hart Portrait Simon Hart
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My hon. Friend is spot on. Many people are watching the Government’s approach to this—not only investors, but people who question whether we have the technical capability and the political will to proceed with this type of project. He is absolutely right that, as long as the Government do not prevaricate about the outcome of the review, they have the chance to put right the concerns that he raises.

Craig Williams Portrait Craig Williams (Cardiff North) (Con)
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I apologise for turning up late because of the vote in the Chamber. I commend my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Is not the issue that we are at the proof of concept stage? The review is very welcome. I know that we need time on our side, but proof of concept is a difficult stage for any project. Although we wholly support it, we need to review it and look at the financing.

Simon Hart Portrait Simon Hart
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I think I understand my hon. Friend’s comment. I should have said earlier that we are not unique in using tidal power. This technology has, in various forms, been tried and tested in other parts of the world, so there are not significant doubts about its workability. We should look elsewhere to ensure that the lessons learned from projects in other parts of the world are applied here.