Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and as you say, I move the amendment tabled in the name of Darren Millar MS.

In the face of the cost-of-living crisis and the urgent need to replace fossil fuels, we need to be ambitious in our pursuit of alternative energy sources. As you know, hydrogen could actually displace natural gas in heating systems, or even be used as a storage medium for renewable electricity. Importantly, we are not starting from scratch. Wales might already be on the way to being a hydrogen hub. The SME Riversimple is designing, building and testing innovative hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The Dolphyn flow study is exploring the feasibility of a 100 MW to 300 MW commercial hydrogen windfarm off south Wales, and then of course there is the hydrogen centre at Baglan Energy Park. The UK Government has announced capital funding up to £4.8 million, subject to a business case, for the Holyhead hydrogen hub, and is also backing HyNet, which by 2030 will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 millions tonnes every year, the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off the road.

However, there is room, as Rhun has said, for us to be even more ambitious for Wales. Whilst the UK Government has committed to pioneering trials of hydrogen heating, beginning with a hydrogen neighbourhood trial by 2023, followed by a large hydrogen village trial by 2025, and potentially a hydrogen town pilot before the end of the decade, Minister, I share Rhun's concerns about this energy we need from your Government as to why won't you do the same here in Wales. I see no reason why the UK Government can pursue the goal of delivering a hydrogen village trial for, say, up to 2,000 properties by 2025, and we cannot do this. In fact, we are already considerably behind England, where the UK Government is minded to fund a potential village trial location in north-west England, exploring the supply of blue hydrogen to cover over 1,900 properties, and a potential village trial location in the north-east of England exploring a range of green and negative carbon hydrogen supply methods, with grey hydrogen as a back-up option to over 1,800 meter points. In fact, we're even behind Scotland, where about 300 homes in the area of Levenmouth will be powered by green hydrogen gas in a project called H100. Customers will be offered free hydrogen-ready boilers and cookers in this scheme, which will initially last five and a half years. This is amazing and, as such, I hope that you will agree to take the first step to follow the example set by Scotland and England by backing these amendments, and thank you to Plaid Cymru for supporting our amendment.

At present here in Wales, your ambition is limited, with commitments to, for example, only establishing one renewable hydrogen production site by 2023-4. It's not good enough. It's not quick enough. Nor is the fact that we don't even have a long-term plan to make hydrogen zero carbon. So, Plaid Cymru, you can certainly count on the Welsh Conservatives' support today. We should produce a Wales hydrogen strategy with the aim of being among the countries at the forefront of the development of this new sector. However, bear in mind we need to back this amendment, which you're doing, but we need the Minister to support it so to at least catch up with our British neighbours, let alone for us to lead.

Obviously, our priority is to deliver the use of hydrogen to reduce the burden of cost on our residents and our businesses. In theory, I have no issue with supporting Welsh control and ownership, but if the expertise required to deliver on the ambitions we have for hydrogen in Wales are outside of our border, we should not be afraid to look elsewhere for assistance whilst developing the skill set here. In reality, I think it only fair to suggest that hydrogen, like nuclear, has not been receiving its fair share of attention from the Welsh Government. So, I do hope that this debate today can transform that situation so that the lightest element receives the heaviest ministerial attention. Thank you.