Renewable Energy Projects

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:35 pm on 17 January 2023.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 1:35, 17 January 2023

I thank Sam for bringing this question forward, because the potential here in the Celtic sea is, of course, for west Wales, and for the whole of the south Wales seaboard as well, in terms of manufacturing, supply chain, and so on. And we have to have that rigorous consenting regime as well, to make sure this works. But, can I ask you, First Minister—? Learning from the past is important within this. We need the right port infrastructure, and, indeed, it would be great to see two bids going through from Wales as well. We need those local grid connections to actually bring this onshore, but what we've learned from previous iterations is that we need the National Grid to be strengthened as well. So, could I ask you what discussions you're going to have with the UK Government and the regulator about strengthening the market signals that say we must have this investment—Wales deserves its fair share of investment in the grid as well. We can do so much on our own, but we need the UK to step up as well.