Dead in the water: the original Swansea tidal lagoon plan [image credit: BBC]
At a mere(?) one billion pounds it would be 30% cheaper than the original proposal, or so the claim goes. The sales pitch mentions some of the usual suspects like sustainability and climate change. But somebody still has to pay for the expensive power it might generate.
The Dragon Energy Island project would generate a combination of marine, solar and hydrogen energy, says EnergyLiveNews.
A floating island of up to 1,000 homes and shops is part of a new proposal to revive the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project in Wales.
Called Dragon Energy Island , the project would consist of giant underwater turbines that would power thousands of homes across Swansea and beyond, a floating modular homes development, underwater data centre, a solar farm and the production of hydrogen.
Another element is the potential for a public procurement arrangement which could see councils and other public sector organisations buying electricity directly from the energy island.
The new scheme is seen as a replacement for the tidal project in Swansea Bay, which failed to receive support from the UK Government.
A report commissioned by a Swansea Bay City Region task force found the latest plan for the tidal lagoon is “financially viable” as it is 30% cheaper than the £1.3 billion estimated cost of the previous project – but it does not take into account the homes, shops, solar farm and data centre.
Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader and Chairman of the city region’s task force said there was “huge support” to deliver the lagoon.
He added: “Despite the UK Government not backing the previous proposals, we never gave up hope on the opportunity to deliver a major renewables project in Swansea Bay… The new proposal is a larger and more ambitious renewable energy development that’s built upon the natural tidal benefits of Swansea Bay and complimentary technology to generate zero-carbon power.
“The tidal lagoon is at the heart of the new proposal and gives us the opportunity to create a new floating community of homes and businesses within the sea wall. This has already been successful in countries like Holland, Germany and Denmark, providing a sustainable solution to issues including population density and climate change.”
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
This crackpot just wants to hook into that government subsidy and he has concluded the PTB are ignorant idiots. He may well be right.
Just another wadge of austerity creation for the advantage of the few.
Microsoft sinks data centre off Orkney
June 2018
Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea off Orkney to investigate whether it can boost energy efficiency.
The data centre, a white cylinder containing computers, could sit on the sea floor for up to five years.
An undersea cable brings the data centre power and takes its data to the shore and the wider internet – but if the computers onboard break, they cannot be repaired.
Orkney was chosen because it is a major centre for renewable energy research.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44368813
old brew:
I wouldn’t trust any underwater object with windows in it.
And what has this got to do with renewable energy? Yes, they have lots of little wind turbines in a windy place, but the island is still connected to Scotland.
Off topic, but may I ask for any insights and updates on the election?
I’m traveling and have limited access to news.
[reply] results due Sunday
the project would consist of…underwater data centre
Free cool water saves a lot of power and costs, in theory at least.
A beginner’s guide to data center cooling systems
https://www.geistglobal.com/news/beginners-guide-data-center-cooling-systems
oldbrew, data centres are their own worst enemies. Most of them have taken the Intel cool-aid and adopted the space heaters produced by that company. A few have woken up and are now trying the lower power consumption AMD processors and there is even talk about using even lower power consumption ARM processors.
Until such time as data centre operators move over to lower power consumption processors they will continue to use such lame brained ideas as using one time use underwater units just as climatologists are clutching at straws to keep the idea that CO2 is a heater alive.
If at first you don’t succeed, fail fail again.