The Welsh Liberal Democrats have launched energy proposals which they say build a roadmap for Wales’ energy future and outlines how the party would deliver on ambitious energy targets in Government.
The policy paper ‘Powering Wales’ Future’ is ambitious for Wales, with a target to produce enough renewable and low-carbon energy to cover our needs and provide export potential by 2050. Amongst the proposals, the party calls for:
- a presumption in favour of small scale community renewables and more support for community energy co-operatives;
- moves to ensure communities gain greater benefits from energy investments by expanding community benefit funds to a regional basis;
- encouraging the use of offshore wind resources by offering incentives to companies to only install the highest generating equipment;
- a full review of TAN8 so that it can be updated to meet current technological requirements;
- planning permission for fracking operations, including test drilling, to be denied until and unless safety and environmental protection can be guaranteed to the highest standards;
- the development of Marine Energy Hubs to provide a safe environment to manufacture and test emergent marine technologies to help Wales gain a competitive advantage;
- the development of new pumped storage facilities so that more energy can be stored for peak time usage and ensure a stable supply of low carbon electricity.
Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Energy and the Environment, William Powell, said:
“‘Powering Wales’ Future’ contains ambitious proposals for Wales to generate enough energy for our own needs through renewable and low carbon sources by 2050.
“Regrettably, decades of under investment have left the Welsh and UK generation network years behind our European counterparts, so it is time for radical changes to the way we deliver energy.
“For too long now our energy generation has been corporate heavy, focused on extracting the resource and giving little back to our communities. Our energy policy would change this, with proposals for planning reforms to enable more small scale community renewables and support for community energy co-operatives.
“Our energy proposals give us wide scope to develop the kind of low carbon, mixed grid approach we need. Equally, we need to be aware that it is in the next 10 years that the decisions will have to be made to ‘keep the lights on’ in 2050.”
