Carbon emissions in Wales have risen by 10% in just one year, and this is why Wales urgently needs to tap into its excellent renewable potential.
The Wales Green Party welcomes the statement from Plaid Cymru to put forward a plan for Wales to generate 100% of electricity from renewables, and elected Greens in the National Assembly will certainly work with them to make sure it happens.
Wales Green Party leader, Pippa Bartolotti said today, “The Greens in Wales have been pushing hard for a greater renewables generation capacity in Wales, and it’s good to see other parties joining our battle. Together we can achieve a progressive step change in the fortunes of Wales.
” Plaid Cymru had previously been under the impression that Wales would have jurisdiction over all its renewable energy supplies, however, it seems that the Welsh Government has allowed the Westminster government to restrict it to 350MW. At a generation of 320MW, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon only just comes into that bracket.
Bartolotti added, “Crucially, the overall strategy for 100% renewable energy requires current grid restrictions to be lifted, and I am concerned that Plaid does not understand the magnitude of this task. Unlike Germany, our grid prioritises fossil fuels over renewables.
“ Wales urgently needs to drive forward investment in renewables and the grid which carries this energy. It is clear the pace and scale of change in the way we transport our electricity must accelerate over the coming years. With carbon emissions in Wales massively missing their reduction targets, the Welsh Government must bite the bullet and invest in a grid system fit for the future if we are not to be the most polluting country in Europe.”
The privatised grid in much of rural Wales is owned by Western Power Distribution (WPD), whose parent company is US coal giant Pennsylvania Power and Light Corporation.
The Wales Green leader said, “The mockery of a coal based industrial giant like the Pennsylvania Power and Light Corporation restricting accessibility of renewable energy to the grid in Wales should not be lost on anyone. The best way forward for us will be to bring the grid into public ownership, and Ofgem should be given a mandate to facilitate that.
“Right now even micro generators on hill farms in Wales are being prevented from accessing the grid, and this simply has to change. Wales has twice the renewable energy it could ever use, and we should be exporting it for a steady income for future generations. We can’t allow fossil fuel based corporations to call the tune on our clean, home grown energy.”