Chris Kelsey examines where Wales need to go to achieve its renewable energy potential
WALES once produced the energy that drove steamships and trains thousands of miles over land and sea, powered industrial machinery and heated homes around the world.
In the drive to dig up and export coal, Wales’ great cities and towns were built, docks and railways constructed and hundreds of thousands of people flooded in to work the mines.
Wales’ coal industry had all too brief a lifespan, but the hope is that the country now has a chance to develop an energy industry that will be more sustainable. The Welsh Government hopes to be able to satisfy all the country’s energy needs from renewable sources by mid century.
And while it is unlikely that the development of new energy sources will have such a dramatic effect as the exploitation of coal, the growth of the renewable sector does have the potential to create thousands of jobs, revive communities and bring with it new economic opportunities.
Harnessing that potential though depends on the right sort of policy support from government – and it’s this which the National Assembly’s Environment and Sustainability Committee addresses in its report on energy policy planning published today.
Much of what is in the report will be welcomed by people in the industry. While Wales’ potential as a place to develop renewable energy, particularly wind, wave and tidal, has long been recognised, the country has fallen behind others such as Scotland in achievement.
Onshore wind is the most commercially advanced renewable technology capable of large scale development in Wales, but it has also been hampered by what the committee, chaired by Dafydd Elis-Thomas, identifies as a lack of leadership “from all levels of government.”
According to RenewableUK, there are 28 wind farm applications idling in the planning process in Wales, 16 of them in Powys. While some of these are large schemes that fall beyond the powers of the Welsh Government, many are not.
One of the key recommendations of the report is that “the Welsh Government needs to work closely with all the stakeholders to free up the backlog of onshore wind applications, particularly in mid Wales.”
Local authorities, says the report, need to show “greater strategic leadership” and work together to develop “all forms of renewable energy.”
But consistent, clear and realistic policy positions from the Welsh Government are the background to good decision making in local government.
In this context the committee couldn’t help but mention the confusion caused last year by the First Minister’s statement on Tan 8 targets, and Environment Minister John Griffiths’ subsequent clarification two weeks later.
According to industry insiders, that episode did tremendous damage to Wales’ reputation as a country keen to develop its renewable energy potential.
During that controversy last summer Carwyn Jones made his bid for the devolution of energy planning decisions for larger projects to Wales.
The evidence the committee gathered suggests that it is less important to many developers who makes decisions than that there is consistency and certainty in planning policy.
It says the Welsh Government should publish its case for devolution of energy powers, and in the meantime consider asking the National Infrastructure Directorate to make its recommendations on larger schemes to Welsh rather than UK ministers.
Looking at other forms of renewable energy, the committee rightly concludes that wave and tidal power cannot make a major contribution before 2020, and that community-based schemes cannot be a substitute for large scale projects.
While recognising the importance of seizing wave and tidal opportunities as they emerge, it criticises the Welsh Government’s 4GW (gigawatt) target for marine energy as too optimistic because it “depends on a Severn tidal power scheme coming forward.”
In many of its recommendations it calls for more rigour on the part of the Welsh Government, urging an annual report on progress towards renewable energy targets and “robust information about existing and proposed renewable energy developments.”
It is not only the Welsh Government that comes in for criticism. On grid infrastructure, the committee says it is “not convinced that National Grid is planning ahead as it should be to deal with likely future demand… from future energy developments.”
It also reports the views of developers that the “UK Government’s electricity market reform proposals, funding reviews and delays are creating uncertainty within the industry.”
Much of this will be music to the ears of developers. RenewableUK Cymru, which represents companies in the wind and tidal sectors, is already urging the Welsh Government to act upon the committee’s recommendation to set up a Renewable Energy Delivery Board bringing together developers, government and regulators.
While there is plenty in the report for other parties to consider, the main thrust of it is clearly aimed at the Welsh Government and the need for it to provide clearer direction to local government, planning and permitting bodies and the industry.
It is up to Carwyn Jones, John Griffiths and their colleagues now to consider how they can provide the leadership Lord Elis-Thomas’ committee has called for.
For a full report on the committee’s report see main section, pages 4-5