GE-Andritz consortium wins €400m supply deal for Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon power project

A consortium formed by General Electric (GE) with Andritz has won an equipment supply contract for the hydro power project in SwanSea Bay, UK.

The deal is worth nearly €400m, reports The Economic Times.

Under the contract, the Austrian engineering firm Andritz will receive €250m, while GE will have the rest of the share.

The tidal project, located in the Severn Estuary, will be capable of generating 500GWh of electricity every year and is expected to be commissioned by 2019.

Featuring 16 underwater turbine units, the project will have a capacity to meet the power requirements of 155,000 UK households for 120 years.

The project to be developed by Tidal Lagoon Power had been included in the National Infrastructure Plan 2014 which was published by the HM Treasury, ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

The UK government had been negotiating taxpayer support arrangements for the £1bn (€1.3bn) project, it announced in December 2014.

Recently, InfraRed Capital had signed an agreement to invest in the offshore project.

InfraRed Capital Partners chief executive Werner von Guionneau said: "The power station is unique in that it not only leverages the estuary’s second highest tidal range in the world but it will also make a material contribution towards both the local economy in South Wales and the long term stability of sustainable energy supply in the UK."