Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 10 March 2021.
Thank you. Well, in last week's UK budget, the Chancellor announced more than £93 million of investment to turbo-charge a green recovery in Wales and accelerate the creation of nearly 13,000 jobs here. This includes accelerated funding for the north Wales growth deal, which includes the Morlais tidal demonstration zone off the coast of Anglesey, and extra funding for a new hydrogen hub at the port of Holyhead, being managed and developed by Menter Môn, the social enterprise behind the tidal demonstration project, whose managing director said:
'This is excellent news and a huge boost to the project in Holyhead.... With the increasing focus on decarbonisation the aim will be to create green hydrogen from renewables including from Morlais, our own tidal stream energy project off the coast of Holy Island.'
The UK budget also included millions for the development of both energy storage technologies and new technologies and products that will feed into the establishment and roll-out of the floating offshore wind industry. How is, or will, Welsh Government engage with these projects to maximise the opportunity for Wales that they represent?