Blog
Cost Benefit Analysis: Swansea Tidal Lagoon
17th August 2014
Plans for the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon power station are potentially a superb case study to use when teaching the multiplier effect, renewable energy, cost-benefit analysis, economies of scale and different forms of government intervention including subsidies for harnessing new energy sources.According to an article in the Independent:"The £850m, six-mile-long U-shaped seawall by the Swansea docks will not only generate enough electricity to power 120,000 homes for 120 years – it will also create nearly 2,000 construction jobs in the two years it takes to build; and it will leave the city with a tourist attraction drawing in up to 100,000 visitors a year."
News articles:
Tidal power generator unveiling hailed as landmark(BBC August 2014): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wale...
Swansea Bay £850m tidal lagoon plan submitted (BBC February 2014): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26087779
Flooding concerns raised over Swansea Tidal Lagoon project (Wales Online, July 2014): http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-new...
Video resources:
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.