6. What assessment has the Minister made of the contribution that a Swansea Bay tidal lagoon would make towards meeting the Welsh Government’s environmental targets? OQ56774

Renewable generation in Wales already provides on average half of our electricity. Marine energy, including tidal lagoons, could play a part in delivering the energy ambition we set out in the Wales national marine plan.

Thank you for that response.

It's been three years since the UK Government once again turned its back on Wales by refusing to invest in the Swansea bay tidal lagoon, and it's two years since the Swansea bay city region submitted a revised vision, the Dragon Energy Island project, to Welsh Government. Despite that particular report suggesting that by July 2021 construction could begin on the lagoon, that time has arrived and Swansea bay remains untouched. People in Swansea and South Wales West are desperate to see this project come to fruition and start delivering the environmental and economic benefits we know are there. I appreciate that the Welsh Government has recently undertaken some soft market testing as a part of the Welsh tidal lagoon challenge, but can you outline the next steps in that process and when do you envisage being able to make a statement to this Chamber on progress? Diolch.

Thank you for that very fair question. I think Sioned Williams is right to point out that there was cross-party support in this Chamber for a Swansea tidal lagoon, and the UK Government, despite lots of noises, let us down. I also noted in the report of the Welsh affairs select committee this morning the cross-party support for the electrification of the railway line to Swansea, which we haven't forgotten about, and I'm very pleased to see Conservatives on that committees standing up to their own Government. I'd encourage all parties to continue with our support for getting lagoons into Wales.

I met with the Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office before the election to have some conversations about how we could work jointly to support the Swansea Dragon Energy Island bid, and conversations are ongoing at an official level with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Wales Office and the Welsh Government about working that up to the next stage where it can be considered by the UK Government, because I think it is important. That process taught us that if that project's going to go ahead, it needs to be done in collaboration between the two different Governments.

More broadly, we are supporting, again in collaboration with the UK Government through the Swansea bay city deal, a £60 million green energy package in Pembrokeshire, which is under way and will make a difference. And we are very keen—Julie James and I had meetings this week—on looking at a marine energy challenge fund. There was a manifesto commitment for that. We're now working that through to look at the whole range of marine technologies, including tidal, because the power of the sea is something we must harness to tackle climate change, and we want as many different interventions to contribute to that as possible.