Huge £10.9bn mega-project to give massive boost to famous UK seaside town

A much-loved UK seaside town is set for a huge boost as a £10.9bn flood defence system could reap rewards for the entire area.

The team behind the 2,500MW capacity  tidal lagoon – that’s planned for an area between the seaside towns of  and  – believe that the project could produce as much as 6.5TWh of energy per year.

But as well as that they hope the project to bring significant development to Minehead,, which can struggle economically outside of the summer months.

Marks Barfield Architects is the team behind the project and its managing director Julia Barfield said that it could have a “huge positive impact” on the town which is famed for its Butlins park. 

She said: “One of the key points, and I think it’s very relevant from the point of view of getting political support, is that this project is not just about generating energy, it’s also about the huge positive impact it can have on an area of deprivation,” reports New Civil Engineer (NCE).

She added: “Minehead has a low wage economy, it’s very seasonal [due to Butlins being its main attraction], it has an ageing population, they have poor transportation and they’re losing young people because of the lack of good jobs.”

As well as that the project could also mean more opportunities for young people in the area.

She said: “They want opportunities for young people, they talked about the need for swimming pools, they talked about improved walking and cycling and they’re very aware of the climate and flood risks.”

The proposals include a 22km long semi-circular concrete embankment that would cover 14km of coast and cordon off an area of roughly 80km² of water that could then be used for water sports and other benefits.

The latest proposals build in previous incarnations of the project stretching back to 2018, which have been faced with objections due to the environmental impact of the development.

Professor of water and environmental engineering at Cardiff University Roger Falconer also spoke to NCE.

He said: “One of the big problems with the original Severn Barrage was that it was having significant impact on a lot of protected areas – like Ramsar sites – while fish migration was going to be a problem as they couldn’t get past it.

“Bristol Port also objected to the Severn Barrage because ships coming in and out would have to go through massive locks, taking up 40 minutes in both directions.”

The site on the edge of  and the semi-circular shape is intended to mitigate the majority of these concerns and provide a wide range of benefits for the local area.

Falconer added: “We made it a semi-circle because you get the minimum embankment length for the maximum area – and the amount of energy you produce is proportional to the planned surface area.”

One such benefit will be the ability to open up the lagoon to water sports thanks to altering plans for the placement of turbines and sluice gates.

The original plans included 16 turbines and eight sluice gates, but all of the turbines were to be together in one section.

According to Falconer, the new proposals will include 125 turbines in five sets of 25 to optimise water flow and allow the lagoon to be used for activities such as wind surfing.

He added: “So the idea that you’re going to be windsurfing in the lagoon is difficult to comprehend, because if you fell off you wouldn’t be able to cope with the strong currents at peak tide”

“We found that if you split the turbines and sluice gates you dramatically reduce this circulation, making it much safer while also reducing the environmental impact.”

Whilst the primary purpose of the West Somerset Lagoon is to harness sustainable energy that can be used nationwide, social benefits are clearly at the forefront of planners’ minds.

The team behind the project are in the process of gaining political and financial support for the project in the hope that preliminary studies could commence in 2026.