MERSEY TIDAL POWER: A LANDSCAPE FOR GREEN CAREERS

An exciting project proposal that would make Liverpool City Region home to the world’s largest tidal scheme and create thousands of green jobs is seeking opinions from the public.

Starting in October, there are public consultation events for people living closest to the proposed scheme and an online survey to share your views.

The Mersey Tidal Power project would see a “barrage”, a type of bridge barrier, built across our famous river, which will use tidal power to deliver enough clean energy to power our homes. The exciting project took a step closer to reality [https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/news/mersey-tidal-power-scheme-reaches-two-major-milestones], when Liverpool City Region Mayor, Steve Rotheram announced that the first public consultation on the scheme would start on 1^st October.

A Giant Bridge

Once built, the barrage would look like a giant bridge across the River Mersey; imagine a walkway, cycle lanes, and green spaces. Underneath, it would harness the natural power of the river flow to generate electricity for thousands of homes. It could protect us all from the flood risks that are becoming increasingly common across the globe. Not only that, but the Mersey Tidal Power project would also help us achieve our ambitious net zero target as it would also contribute to offshore wind, hydrogen, and solar energy production.

A Boost for Future Employment

The Mersey Tidal Power project has the potential to create a number and type of jobs created that would be breathtaking! Thousands of employment opportunities could be generated, from planning and construction to the ongoing operation and maintenance of the barrage. We can also expect to see a boost in job numbers beyond the actual building and maintenance of the bridge, in fields such as ecological conservation, tourism, and administration. It is expected there will also be many more jobs in renewable energy once it’s complete.

Apprenticeships and Career Opportunities

The sheer scale of skills needed to make the project a success will mean many new apprenticeships and career opportunities for school leavers and other job seekers. We could expect to see schools, apprenticeship providers, and colleges all developing focused training programmes that will deliver the skills for jobs related to this project. This will include a big increase in training opportunities for renewable energy skills.  

The Mersey Tidal Power project could provide one of the most exciting and promising regional career landscapes in recent history for our future school leavers. And it wouldn’t stop there. Higher-level professionals, too, would find many more opportunities for challenging and rewarding work projects and opportunities, as well as academic and industry research openings.

Have your say

Be there at the start! Find out more about Mersey Tidal Power, the most exciting project proposal in the region, country, and world, at this dedicated webpage [https://lcrlistens.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/merseytidal/].