[Interruption.] Sorry. It went down the wrong way—sorry. This has been a really helpful opportunity to highlight a potential role of hydrogen in a zero-carbon energy system. Decarbonisation is driving a global shift in the energy world and the boundaries between transport, electricity and heat are becoming blurred, with energy being converted into different forms to address a range of needs.

The ability to store energy and use it when and where it's needed is vital for an efficient renewable energy-based system. The system will need to integrate renewable generation with storage and other services to minimise the need for new generation and ensure flexibility to meet peaks in demand. Smarter systems and appliances are needed to manage this increasingly complex system.

We expect to see low-carbon gas playing a greater role. It is not yet clear whether this will be in the form of biomethane, hydrogen, or other synthetic gases. Gases such as hydrogen may also have a role to play in helping us to store electricity generated from renewable sources during periods of low demand. The gas may then be converted back into electricity through combustion, or used as a heating or transport fuel. Targeted investment in a multivector system will help us to find the most effective solutions to serving peak demand. We are committed to this whole-systems approach to the energy transition that underpins our work on decarbonisation. Hydrogen is a natural energy vector to consider, as it has flexibility to provide heat, power, sustainable fuel for transport and is a medium for storage. The flexibility hydrogen could provide is of value to the whole energy sector. 

The potential for developing this is being explored through our Smart Living work as well as the FLEXIS programme and whilst we also participate in UK groups to co-ordinate work on hydrogen, Welsh Government already brings together the public sector, business and academics through its Smart Living demonstrators. Looking at how we transform the jobs in west Wales from fossil energy to low-carbon energy is fundamental to delivering a prosperous low-carbon Wales. A key example is the joint working we co-ordinated on the Milford Haven energy kingdom proposal, which secured a share of £21 million of Innovate UK funding to develop a detailed design to bring it closer to deployment.

Another success story is the Rasa, the Welsh hydrogen fuel cell car, supported by Welsh Government and European funding and now working on a pilot project to have cars in daily use. The Wales-based FLEXIS programme is looking at a range of innovations, many of which include hydrogen. One example is testing out how domestic appliances may be impacted by increased hydrogen in the gas supply. Understanding these impacts could enable new jobs in manufacturing. 

There are opportunities for Wales to build on these pilots and develop local and larger scale hydrogen-generation projects, both at the industrial scale and as an alternative to natural gas in rural areas. However, securing benefits for Wales will be dependent on successful demonstration projects taking place here. It also requires major investment to drive down the costs of hydrogen manufacture and storage. We need a low-carbon energy system, but not at any cost. Even with the current low financial cost of natural gas, we have people in fuel poverty. We need to build on the experience of making renewable sources, such as onshore wind and solar, the lowest cost sources of energy, applying these lessons to drive down the cost of flexibility and storage. 

I hope the enthusiasm of the Tory Members for this Senedd debate today will be translated into real commitment by their Westminster colleagues to provide the additional funding needed to help more renewable technologies become truly price competitive. There are a number of major energy announcements from the UK Government that are long overdue and I hope that, when these announcements are finally made, they will make it clear not just how they will support the development of these technologies but, where the responsibilities are non-devolved, how they will support the development of these technologies here in Wales.

The flexibility of gases such as hydrogen means we need to take a broader view of the energy system. An integrated system is likely to be cheaper for citizens in the long term and also help us to preserve security of energy supplies, even at times of peak demand. The UK National Infrastructure Commission believes these savings could be as large as £8 billion a year for energy users across the UK by 2030. I broadly support the motion and amendments, which, in my view, suggest the need to bring together and add further strategic focus to the wealth of activity already under way in Wales. No single solution can provide Wales with the low-carbon future it both needs and deserves. We need to consider the energy system as a whole. It is my intention to ensure that our thinking on the role of hydrogen and associated technologies across Wales is both co-ordinated and strategic. That is why a hydrogen strategy for Wales will be an integrated component of Wales's next low-carbon delivery plan for 2021-25.