Plans to link Weston-super- Mare and Wales with a multibillion-pound Severn barrage scheme could become a casualty of the recession, Weston MP John Penrose says.

According to Environment Minister Mike O'Brien, the latest construction figures for 10-mile barrage from Brean Down to Lavernock Point , south of Cardiff, suggest it would cost between £19.6 billion and £22.2bn.

The four alternative options , to harness the estuary's tidal power for renewable energy generation cost fraction of the barrage at a maximum of £6bn.

These include two innovative lagoon schemes, which would trap water in a large section of the estuary without damming it, and two smaller barrages.

The Government says it is committed to sourcing 20 per cent of the UK's energy from renewable sources by 2020.

It is therefore keen to harness the power of the Severn estuary, which has the second highest tidal range in the world, to generate electricity.

The barrage would generate over 8.6 gigawatts – twice that of the UK's largest fossil fuel power plant and five per cent of the UK's energy needs.

Mr Penrose said with Government debt spiralling, the cheaper alternatives could put the barrage in jeopardy.

He said Government debt standing at £750.3bn as of December 2008 and are predicted to increase further to £1,650bn by 2010, put the 10-mile barrage scheme in jeopardy. As any of the other options could be financed more cheaply by private investors, Mr Penrose believes these are more likely to be approved instead.

He said: "It's becoming increasingly clear that the Severn Barrage is different from all the other shortlisted schemes as it would need huge amounts of taxpayers' money to be built. "Unfortunately, because the Government keep borrowing more and more money, and getting the country further and further into debt, it's going to get harder and harder for them to borrow even more Billions to build the barrage as well.

"I'm worried the Government's fiscal mess may rule out the Cardiff to Weston Barrage entirely, whether their evaluation study finds it's the best of the five shortlisted options or not."

The Severn Barrage would act as a bridge between England and Wales with an operational lifetime of up to 200 years

If given the go ahead it would be the world's largest ever renewable energy project and the UK's largest engineering project since the Channel Tunnel.

The Severn Tidal Power Group (STGP) a consortium of engineering and construction companies suggests it would take six to eight years to build.

During the peak period of construction it claims 35,000 jobs would be created and a further 40,000 permanent jobs would be generated in Somerset and South Wales thanks to the benefits of the proximity of the new Severn crossing point.

Open sluice gates along its length would allow the tide to flow in and close at high tide trapping enormous quantities of water.

A total of 214 40MW turbines would be built into the barrage turning the trapped water at high pressure to generate electricity.

Despite its potential for harnessing energy the scheme has attracted opposition from the Bristol-based group Stop the Barrage Now.

It believes a barrage would add to flooding, reduce fish stocks, damage bird life and destroy the Severn bore, as well as ruining mudflats across an area.

In addition it adds that a barrage would impede shipping, affecting ports such as Bristol, Gloucester and Cardiff, and put at risk thousands of jobs.

Two of the other shortlisted schemes are also barrages, Shoots barrage – a scheme further upstream one seventh the width of the Cardiff Weston.

It would produce 1.05 gigawatts, similar to a large fossil fuel plant.

Beachley barrage, an even smaller scheme, above the Wye River, would generate around 625MW.

The lagoons proposed are in Bridgwater Bay, a proposal which would impound a section of the estuary on the coast between east of Hinkley Point and Weston, which could generate 1.36GW.

Fleming lagoon, is a similar scheme which would generate the same amount of power from a section of the Welsh shore between Newport and the Severn road crossings.

A consultation on the schemes ends on April 23, after which the Government will publish responses and after consideration, announce its final shortlist.