SEVERN estuary conservationists have reacted swiftly to the barrage proposals announced on Monday with one organisation claiming some of the engineering consultancies and sponsored academics involved in the consultation already had vested interests.

In a statement the Save Our Severn group say The Department of Energy and Climate Change should recognise those interests whenever recommendations were received.

SOS urges the Government to consider solutions only on the grounds of technical efficiency, financial cost and environmental impact.

Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change launched a short list of five possible Severn tidal power schemes.

The schemes for consultation are:

•Shoots Barrage – located near the Severn road crossings, estimated to cost £3.2bn to construct and generate 2.7TWh/year or just under one per cent of UK electricity (roughly the same as a large fossil fuel power station)

•Beachley Barrage – slightly smaller and further upstream than the shoots and above the entrance to the Wye. Cost £2.3bn and generate 1.6TWh/ year.

•Fleming Lagoon – An impoundment on the Welsh shore between Newport and the Severn road crossings, estimated to cost £4bn and generate 2.3TWh/year.

•Bridgwater Bay Lagoon – An impoundment on the English shore between Hinckley Point and Weston-super-Mare estimated to cost £3.8bn and generate 2.6TWh/year.

•Cardiff-Weston Barrage – located between Brean Down and Lavernock Point, estimated to cost £20.9bn and generate 16.8TWh/ year or some five per cent of UK electricity.

Mr Miliband said there would be a three month public consultation.

He announced a further £0.5m financial support package to consider other options such as a tidal reef or tidal fence.

The Government, he said, was also committed to considering progress of the new technologies alongside the shortlisted schemes before taking any decisions (probably after a second public consultation in 2010) on whether or not to support building a Severn tidal power scheme.

The Save Our Severn group say barrages are now out of date and superceded by superior, lower impact alternatives such as tidal turbines.

"The turbine's exceptional efficiency means that, with the same budget, it could generate more than twice the power of a barrage. And, unlike a barrage whose lifespan could be severely curtailed by silting, it could go on and on providing power as a truly renewable energy source," they say.