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The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has endorsed the preferred corridor for the Mersey Tidal Power Project.
At its meeting on Friday 6 November, the Combined Authority backed Alignment B, a stretch of the River Mersey between Bromborough on the Wirral and Otterspool in Liverpool, as the preferred development corridor.
Alignment A was removed from further consideration.
Leaders also endorsed a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model as the most credible financing approach currently available for a project of this scale, and authorised further engineering, environmental assessment, hydro-environmental modelling and preparation for a future Development Consent Order (DCO).
The decision does not commit the Combined Authority to construction. Any future DCO application, increase in Combined Authority funding, construction funding or final investment decision would need a further report and approval.
If built, the Mersey Tidal Power Project is planned to be the largest tidal range power plant in the world, generating up to one gigawatt of electricity for around 120 years.
The Combined Authority says it would create thousands of jobs in construction and operation and position the city region as a centre for tidal manufacturing and supply chains.
A second round of public engagement is planned for late 2027 or early 2028.
No building work would start until planning consent was granted and a final investment decision made.
The decision is subject to call-in. On the Combined Authority's published record it comes into force on 14 November if not called in, with a call-in deadline of 13 November.
We first reported that Bromborough to Otterspool had been marked as the preferred Wirral site ahead of Friday's meeting.
Further detailed work will now continue ahead of any future planning application.
