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Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce in today鈥檚 Budget that the government will enter formal talks with the 拢850m Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project about potential public backing for the scheme.

In what will be a politically-charged Budget ahead of May鈥檚 general election, Osborne is also set to green light the proposed high speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds, dubbed 鈥楬S3鈥�.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) .

It argued that a contract for difference arrangement with developer Tidal Lagoon Power (TLP), whereby the government will guarantee a fixed price for the electricity generated, is the best way to ensure its viability.

DECC said the project could act as a test case to explore the possibility of similar tidal power schemes elsewhere in the country being funded by the same arrangement.

TLP鈥檚 plans would see the creation of a six-mile sea wall in Swansea Bay that would feature turbines capable of generating around 0.5 TWh of electricity a year - enough to power almost 120,000 homes.

DECC said entering into bilateral negotiations for a contract for difference with TLP would allow it to carry out a full value for money assessment on the plans, and that a lack of other 鈥渟ufficiently developed鈥� tidal lagoon plans meant that a competitive process for running the such a facility was not appropriate.