“Our vision is clear, we want Wales to generate renewable energy to
at least fully meet our energy needs and utilise surplus generation
to tackle the nature and climate emergencies.” Those were the words
of Deputy Climate Change Minister as he published the findings of an intensive deep-dive
review into renewable energy.
The Deputy Minister promised the Welsh Government will prioritise
actions to reduce energy demand and maximise local ownership
retaining economic and social benefits in Wales.
The deep dive, announced in
October this year, involved a small core group of
experts from both within the sector and outside to provide input
and challenge.
In a Twitter thread, the Deputy
Minister said:
I'm very grateful to the expert panel who worked very intensively
with me to identify barriers to speeding up deployment of more
renewable energy.
To meet Net Zero we've got to increase the amount of green energy
we generate five-fold in the next 30 years.
The point of the review was to identify what barriers there are,
set out plans to remove them and, crucially, work out how to make
sure our communities and our economy benefit as a result.
In the lead up to COP26 we published Net Zero Wales which set out
the actions we need to take in Wales to meet our second carbon
budget (2021-2025) and lay the foundation for longer term
emissions reduction as we respond to the climate and nature
emergency.
Net Zero Wales reaffirmed our commitment for a significant
transformation of energy generation moving away from fossil fuels
to sustainable renewable generation.
In doing so we are clear that we must learn from previous
industrial revolutions where Wales’ natural assets where utilised
with little lasting long term benefit to our communities.
The terms of reference for the deep dive group were simple: to
identify barriers to significantly scaling up renewable energy in
Wales and identifying steps to overcome the barriers. We looked
at short, medium and long term steps, and in doing so we will
have a particular focus on retaining wealth and ownership in
Wales.
The report includes recommendations broken down by five key
themes. Highlights include:
- A clearer expression on vision for renewables which now
states ‘we want Wales to generate renewable energy to at least
fully meet our energy needs and utilise surplus generation to
tackle the nature and climate emergencies.’
- Scaling up local energy plans to create a national energy
plan by 2024 and mapping out future energy demand and supply to
identify gaps to enable Wales to plan for a system that is
flexible and smart.
- A commitment to work with Natural Resources Wales to carry
out with an end-to-end review of the marine licensing, consenting
and supporting advisory processes to remove barriers. This
includes identifying marine ‘strategic resource areas’ to
signpost appropriate and inappropriate areas for development at
sea by 2023.
- A promise to explore ways of drawing down additional
investment in renewable energy generation in Wales. The review
says Welsh Government will prioritise local and community
ownership to maximise local economic and social value.
