Just when possibly the biggest sea-based energy project in recent years looked to be heading for Davy Jones' Locker the tide appears to be turning.

The ambitious £1.3blln Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project, shelved earlier this year after months of Government deliberation (or dithering, depending on who you ask) had at its heart a Gloucester firm.

Docks-headquartered Tidal Lagoon Power, owned by Stroud businessman Mark Shorrock was the company which developed the scheme and was gearing up to position itself at the forefront of what was predicted to kickstart a new global multi-billion-pound sector.

And then came the decision in June and it looked to have sounded the death knell for the project and therefore the firm - which began leaking staff and many thought would sink without trace.

Until Swansea Council revealed it plans to pursue the project itself - announcing its had established a task force to look at alternative ways of delivering the project.

All of which turns attentions back onto the Gloucester business, which has emerged bearing a similar name, but smaller and repurposed.

"We are fully supportive of the taskforce's Tidal Lagoon 2.0 market testing initiative and look forward to engaging with the ideas and partnerships it stimulates," said a spokesman for Tidal Lagoon

After undergoing a Company Voluntary Arrangement process back in September Docks-based Tidal Lagoon Power, which did employ an estimated 100 staff, is still in business - now employing just a dozen staff.

Assets and intellectual property for the Swansea project were owned by Tidal Lagoon (Swansea Bay) Plc, which has been described as an investment vehicle.

Prudential's InfraCapital and InfraRed Capital Partners also sat on the board of the business and planned to provide equity funding for the project.

The project was developed for Tidal Lagoon (Swansea Bay) Plc by the business Tidal Lagoon Power - which is the company based at Gloucester Docks which spread its team between the city and Swansea.

Through the CVA, a new entity (Tidal Power Plc) has been able to employ all of the tidal lagoon IP and knowhow generated to date to support the development of a new delivery plan for tidal lagoons.

It is believed the firm remains ambitious and is ready to "scale-up as the new delivery plan meets certain milestones".

That Taskforce, via Swansea Council, is now testing the market to see what investor and/or delivery partner interest there is out there.

When the project was first championed the firm claimed it would harness the power of the rise and fall of the tide using 16 hydro turbines and a 9.5km breakwater wall to generate electricity for 155,000 homes for the next 120 years.

At the height of its initial momentum around the project the company quoted research by ComRes (from May 2016) which found that 84 per cent of Conservative councillors and 83 per cent of Conservative MPs were in favour of the project, which also featured in the Conservative Party 2015 General Election manifesto.