The Metro Mayor has chosen a team of consultants including Arup, ABPmer, BECG, and Grant Thornton to draw up an outline business case for a tidal power scheme on the Mersey, one of the key elements of the city region’s plan to be zero-carbon by 2040.

Dubbed a “multi-billion-pound” project by Rotheram, plans were first unveiled for the scheme in 2017 with the Mayor appointing former Dong Energy UK chairman Brent Cheshire to work up initial plans in November of the same year.

Under these early plans, a tidal energy scheme on the Mersey and in Liverpool Bay could generate enough power for up to one million homes.

The team led by Arup will now draw up an outline business case for the scheme, including a technical, financial, economic, and environmental assessment, which will inform the Combined Authority on the future of the project. The business case is expected to take 12 months to bring together.

Rotheram said: “Tidal power has the potential to generate a huge amount of renewable energy, helping us to hit our target of being zero carbon by 2040, while boosting economic growth for everyone in our city region, and creating thousands of jobs in its design, construction and beyond.

“Devolution gives us the scale and powers necessary to pursue this kind of transformative project and the opportunity to shape the skills we need for our local economy, which means we can ensure that our children and young people develop in the areas they would need to benefit from these jobs.”

“If we are successful in delivering this project, we would become a global leader in tidal technology and export our expertise around the world.”