6. Debate on the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee Report: Renewable energy in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:04 pm on 19 October 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Delyth Jewell Delyth Jewell Plaid Cymru 4:04, 19 October 2022

That picture, Dirprwy Lywydd, I know is bleak, but I think what keeps coming up in this debate is that it need not be that way. Wales is a net exporter of energy and the potential for renewable energy development is enormous. The current crises just make the case for this shift all the more urgent. Beyond the application of energy necessities like electricity, warmth, food production, transport, the question of control over energy resources has also been brought into sharper focus in recent years. I note that Alun Davies has made this point. From questions surrounding a lack of necessity, over powers over the grid, over larger energy projects, over the Crown Estate in Wales, all of these factors have seriously hampered our ability to deliver Wales's energy needs, to respond to climate change and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

Whenever we have these debates, the point is made that Wales's history was one, in so many ways, that was characterised by exploitation and poverty. Those things defined the era of coal; we have to make sure that the future is different. The committee was clear, as am I, that the Welsh Government can do more to boost renewable energy production in Wales, to make sure that the control over our own energy system is stronger. Limited progress has been made. Wales is a long way off still, though, from a grid that is ready and able to support a rapid transition to renewables. We're no closer to devolved powers over the Crown Estate. I would urge the Welsh Government to show that increased ambition, because of all of these crises that are facing us, to do all it can to ensure that Wales's current and future grid infrastructure requirements are fully met. When we have a Government response to the debate, it would be really useful to have an update on any developments that have come about in terms of devolving powers over the Crown Estate to Wales.

I know that we are all alive to the need to respond to both the climate and nature crises in ways that are interlinked, and this is something that has certainly come up in our evidence as well. I'll end with this, Dirprwy Lywydd. We need to balance the need to accelerate and expand offshore renewables and achieving net zero as soon as we can with protecting marine environments and halting biodiversity decline. So, it would be good if we could have some detail on this, because all of these crises are interlinked in the way that they're hitting us, but the way that we need to respond to them as much as possible needs to be interlinked as well. Diolch yn fawr.