Ports

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:05 pm on 7 March 2023.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:05, 7 March 2023

Of course, she's absolutely right that it is central to the future not simply of the ports themselves but of the Welsh economy that we have that investment in floating offshore wind. A huge amount of effort is going into creating that future. I'm very pleased to be able to say that the consents that are needed for the Erebus project, the first genuine commercial demonstration of floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea—that Natural Resources Wales has provided its consents so that that scheme can go ahead, and I think this week, the Minister was able to provide the consents that Welsh Ministers need to provide under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.

So, the consents that are needed to allow that really important project to go ahead are now there. Its importance lies in its demonstration of our capacity in Wales to take schemes from the drawing board and actually into commercial-scale operation. I think this week has been a very good week for Blue Gem, and we will continue to look very positively at the development of that project for everything that it will demonstrate about our commitment to renewable energy and to the ports that will be at the backbone of that development.