The River Mersey has been at the heart of the fortunes of Liverpool City Region for hundreds of years, from its first ferries and the world’s first commercial wet dock to today’s Port of Liverpool. How we use this great natural asset has always evolved.
Now, in a time of climate crisis, we are turning to our great river once more to harness its natural power to secure a greener, cleaner, and more prosperous Liverpool City Region for this and future generations. We have one of the UK’s largest tidal ranges and a long history of research into tidal power. We can harness this heritage and the power of our tides to generate a plentiful, reliable supply of clean, green energy, powering hundreds of thousands of homes.
Please note that our Phase 1 Community Consultation closed on Friday 15 November 2024 and this site is for information only. There will be further opportunities to provide feedback as the project progresses.
Community Consultation Booklet
Have your say
Application form - Nature Recovery Community Engagement
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is looking to commission up to two organisations to plan and deliver engagement with citizens between February and March 2025 on a new Nature Recovery Strategy for the region. The audience we are looking to engage with is: Adults aged over 25 who are digitally excluded and living in Halton, St Helens, Knowsley and Wirral. For the purposes of this commission, being ‘digitally excluded’ means not having access to the...
Public Events
We are consulting on our proposals for a tidal barrage between the Wirral and Liverpool. This would use our greatest asset, the River Mersey with its large tidal range, to generate clean, green electricity to power homes in the city region for more than a hundred years.
Come along to our public events where you can learn more about the Mersey Tidal Power Project and meet the team. Your views are important in helping to shape our proposals.
This is an interactive map.
The map shows Liverpool City Regions. There are a number of red pins that show the locations of public drop in events.
- Museum of Liverpool, Mann Island, Liverpool L3 1DG
- Thursday 3 October 3pm to 7pm
- Delamere Community Centre, Delamere Avenue, Eastham, Wirral CH62 9ED
- Friday 11 October 2pm to 7pm
- The Gateway, 85-101 Sankey Street, Warrington WA1 1SR
- Saturday 12 October 10am to 4pm
- The Lake House, Cambridge Road, Waterloo, Liverpool L22 1RR
- Monday 14 October 2pm to 7pm
- Floral Pavilion Theatre, Marine Promenade, New Brighton, Wirral CH45 2JS
- Thursday 17 October 2pm to 7pm
- The Florrie, 377 Mill Street, Dingle, Liverpool L8 4RF
- Saturday 19 October 10am to 4pm
- Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prospero Place, Prescot L34 3AB
- Saturday 26 October 10am to 4pm
- Ellesmere Port Civic Hall, Civic Way, Ellesmere Port CH65 0AZ
- Monday 4 November 2pm to 7pm
- Totally Wicked Stadium, McManus Drive, St Helens WA9 3AL
- Tuesday 5 November 2pm to 7pm
- Runcorn Masonic Hall, York Street, Runcorn WA7 5BB
- Saturday 9 November 10am to 4pm
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is leading the project?
The Mersey Tidal Power Project is being developed by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA).
The LCRCA is a local authority led by the elected Metro Mayor and brings together the region's six local authorities Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral. The LCRCA is the strategic decision-making body for the Liverpool City Region.
The LCRCA committed to the development of Mersey Tidal Power in its 2022 Plan for Prosperity which sets out the LCRCA policy framework up to 2035.
The Project is also included in the LCRCA Five Year Climate Action Plan and the LCRCA Spatial Development Strategy.
What are we consulting on?
We are consulting with the public to share an early idea of what the project could look like and understand any concerns or questions you have as we progress into future development stages.
The Mersey Tidal Power Project consists of the following main components:
- A tidal range barrage located within the channel of the Mersey Estuary which contains:
- A Power Generation System with control equipment and a sub-structure housing turbines with an expected electrical output of up to 1 GW;
- A Hydro Control System (including sluice gates);
- A Marine Navigation System (including locks);
- A Power Export System;
- Onshore operational facilities including maintenance, stores and office buildings; and
- Associated rock armour and breakwaters.
- An onward grid connection to a National Grid substation; and
- Utilisation of the surrounding port facilities during the construction phase in addition to other potential associated developments which may support the construction phase.
We are continuing to develop our understanding of our river and costal environment, what a scheme would look like, and how we can balance the benefit of a renewable marine energy scheme into the natural environment.
What are the next steps after consultation?
Following the close of this consultation, the project team will review all responses received and consider feedback provided, alongside ongoing ecology studies, engineering design, ground investigation and stakeholder engagement to refine our proposals further. We will present our refined proposals for comment at a further round of statutory consultation, which we intend to hold in 2025. Feedback received to the statutory consultation will help us shape our final proposals before we submit our application for a Development Consent Order (DCO).
Who makes the decision on granting permission for the Mersey Tidal Power Project?
As the Mersey Tidal Power Project will consist of the construction of a generating station with a capacity of over 50MW, the project is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under section 14(1)(a) the Planning Act 2008.
This means that one of the main types of permission we will be seeking to obtain is a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will make the final decision on whether to grant a DCO for the Mersey Tidal Power Project. The decision will be made after the examination of the application for a DCO, following which the Planning Inspectorate will provide a report and recommendation to the Secretary of State to help inform their decision.
More information on the DCO process is available at: infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk
What happens next
Following the Autumn 2024 consultation, we will continue our engineering design and environmental assessment work to better understand the local environment. These will help us to refine our proposals, and we will present these, alongside our Preliminary Environmental Information Report, at our statutory consultation, which we hope to hold during 2025. Please note this timeline is indicative and may be subject to change
2024 to 2025
Further project development
Following the initial (Autumn 2024) consultation, we will consider all feedback received alongside our ongoing engineering design and environmental assessment work, and ongoing stakeholder engagement to further develop our proposals.
2025
Statutory consultation
We will consult with stakeholders, local communities and landowners on our refined proposals and Preliminary Environmental Information Report, in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Act 2008.
2026
Submission
Once we have finalised our proposals after considering all feedback received at statutory consultation, we will submit our application for a Development Consent Order to the Planning Inspectorate. This will include a Consultation Report which will demonstrate how consultee feedback has shaped our proposed scheme.
2026 to 2027
Examination
The Planning Inspectorate will carry out an examination of our application, which usually takes up to 6 months. During this time, hearings will be held, representations can be submitted by interested parties, and questions posed to us.
2028
Decision
After the Planning Inspectorate has made a recommendation, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will decide on whether to grant a Development Consent Order.
2028
Ready for construction
We will then construct the tidal barrage and associated infrastructure using a staged approach to minimise impacts to river users, the environment, and local communities.
Closed activities
Mersey Tidal Power Project - Phase One Community Consultation
It's time for Tidal! The River Mersey, our greatest natural asset, can play a vital role in tackling the climate emergency and helping our transition to green energy while boosting our future prosperity and the UK’s energy security. The River Mersey has been at the heart of the fortunes of Liverpool City Region for hundreds of years, from its first ferries and the world’s first commercial wet dock to today’s Port of Liverpool. How we use this great natural...