1. What is the Welsh Government doing to support local energy generation projects? OAQ(5)0082(ERA)

Thank you. The Welsh Government has an established history of support in this area, which is currently continuing under the local energy service. As a result of our support, nine local energy schemes have been constructed. This includes Friends of Taff Bargoed in the Merthyr valley and four more currently being constructed.

Excellent. Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary for your response. And I’m aware that you did, in fact, visit Taff Bargoed at the end of October—the hydropower scheme there. And that Taff Bargoed is the latest phase of a project that’s transformed that site of three disused coalmines in the heart of a Valleys community and which has seen the launch of the income-generating hydro scheme. I’m sure you’ll agree with me, Cabinet Secretary, that the park is a fine example of the kind of transformation of an industrial site into a leisure and recreation centre, which has become both a haven for wildlife and a centre for community activities, and the latest initiative is a natural and positive progression. But, as part of the Welsh Government’s strategy on delivering clean energy, notwithstanding what you’ve just said about the four schemes that are in the pipeline, can I ask you how we can encourage even more communities to generate their own energy and learn from the excellent example of projects such as Taff Bargoed?

Thank you. The Taff Bargoed scheme is a really excellent example of local people coming together, making the most of opportunities that exist within their community, and our vision is to see far more communities and businesses using locally generated renewable energy, and earning an income in the process—I think that’s another thing to think about. I mentioned in my initial answer that we do support communities through the process of a local energy service. That provides development officer support, it provides funding, and it also provides access to specialist advice groups. So, one of the key benefits of community groups working with the local energy service is the access to capital funding the service offers. And we know from experience that groups can often struggle to raise funds for such schemes, so I think it’s really important that we continue to make sure that that funding is available here in Wales.

Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm the status and weight to be given to policies in local development plans when her officials determine the acceptability of any local generation scheme, which, by virtue of its expected output, is now classed as a development of national significance?

I’ll have to write to the Member with a note on that.

The Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee recently visited a community hydroelectric project in north Wales, and I followed up with Ofgem on the issue raised, that the costs of connection to the grid, where there isn’t sufficient capacity in the area already, have to generally be borne by the developer, whereas the approach taken in Scotland for large-scale renewables there was for the upgrade of the grid to be paid for by electricity users across the UK. Does the Cabinet Secretary believe the approach currently is fair to Wales or not?

This is something I’m having to look at. We need to make sure that there is enough capacity on the national grid. The First Minister met recently with the National Grid to discuss this, and it’s something, as I say, that we will be looking at going forward.