NEW plans outlining how the Liverpool City Region could become a world leader in tidal power have been revealed.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced the next phase of plans to harness the tidal power of the River Mersey and Liverpool Bay today (Wednesday, May 8).

It is hoped that the multi-billion pound project could see thousands of jobs being created for locals in its construction including; designers, architects, marine contractors, fabricators and assembly yard workers.

A tidal energy scheme for the area could generate up to four times the energy of all the wind turbines in Liverpool Bay which would be enough to power up to a million homes.

Mayor Rotheram told the Globe: "The unique geography of the River Mersey and Liverpool Bay makes us one of the only places in the UK with the potential to generate plentiful, predictable, green tidal electricity.

“Making this project a reality would create thousands of jobs for local people in the city region and that’s why we’re moving forward to the next stage, which is creating an outline business case to demonstrate the viability of a tidal power project.

“This is exactly the kind of transformational project that devolution and working together as a city region enables us to pursue.

"And because devolution gives us powers and funding to shape the skills we need for our local economy it means we can ensure that our children and young people, who might still be at school today, can be equipped with the skills they need to benefit from these jobs and to thrive in this exciting green industry.

“As the whole world seeks to move beyond its dependence on carbon, we have an opportunity to build on our existing strengths in tidal research to develop a world-leading tidal power industry.

“Our low carbon sector already generates £2 billion a year and supports 22,000 jobs across wind, solar and hydrogen energy.

"With our vision and the right backing from government we can add tidal to the mix and become Britain’s Renewable Energy Coast.”

Now the combined authority will work with a team of technical and financial advisers in a bid to develop the outline business case over the next 12 months.

This will provide the combined authority with a detailed evaluation of the viability of a Mersey Tidal Project.