The barrage would have harnessed water power using a hydro-electric dam Controversial £30bn plans for a Severn estuary barrage tidal energy project have been scrapped.
Supporters had claimed the 10-mile (16km) dam stretching from Somerset to south Wales would produce up to 5% of the UK’s energy.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said a study had found there was “no strategic case” for the scheme.
Mr Huhne also announced eight potential sites for building new nuclear power stations by 2025.
They are at Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool, Tees; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk and Wylfa, in Anglesey.
Dungeness, in Kent, and Brastyones and Kirksanton, in Cumbria, were rejected.
The Severn barrage had been intended to run from Weston-super-Mare to Cardiff.
It would have harnessed water power using a hydro-electric dam, but would be filled by the incoming tide rather than by water flowing downstream.
The Severn Estuary has the second-largest tidal range in the world with 42ft (12.8m) tides.
But the feasibility report found it would be difficult to attract private investment and the project represented “high risk”.
Mr Huhne did not rule out the possibility of the barrage as a longer term option in the future, if market conditions improved.
He said: “The study clearly shows that there is no strategic case at this time for public funding of a scheme to generate energy in the Severn estuary.
“Other low carbon options represent a better deal for taxpayers and consumers.
“However, with a rich natural marine energy resource, world leading tidal energy companies and universities, and the creation of the innovative Wave Hub facility, the area can play a key role in supporting the UK’s renewable energy future.”
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