Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 2 May 2018.
In 2015, Chris Blake of the Green Valleys (Wales) said his company had identified at least 500 sites in Wales suitable for micro-hydro projects. The Guardian in that year highlighted a hill farmer in Wales who said the installation of his 18 KW generator had doubled the income of his farm and was effective 24 hours a day. Given the parlous state of our hill farmers due to common agricultural policy policies, surely it would be a goodwill gesture by the Welsh Government to subsidise such schemes for our hill farmers, with the obvious added bonus of cutting carbon emissions? Of course, we do have some community hydro schemes in Wales, but, with more Welsh Government help, there could be many more. Surely, Cabinet Secretary, it is time to take a serious look at the these small hydro schemes, especially in the light of the appalling comments on the Swansea bay project yesterday by UK business Minister Lord Henley?