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Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru |
National Assembly for Wales |
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Egwyddorion cyffredinol |
General principals of the |
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Ymateb gan RenewableUK Cymru |
Response from RenewableUK Cymru |
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EB 31 |
EB 31 |
RenewableUK Cymru Response to the Environment and Sustainability Committee Inquiry on the general principles of the Environment (Wales) Bill
1.
RenewableUK is the representative body for the wind, wave and tidal
energy industries operating in the UK. RenewableUK Cymru also
represents members with interests in solar, biomass, and other
forms of renewable energy technologies in Wales. We represent
around 600 corporate members in the UK and our active membership in
Wales covers the vast majority of Wales’ commercial renewable
generation interests.
2.
Our members have interests in renewable energy at all stages of the
planning and development process. Our membership portfolio includes
those companies with an interest in carrying out Environmental
Impact Assessments and related development work, through to
companies who are primarily involved in the operation, construction
and maintenance of projects on and offshore in Wales.
3.
RenewableUK Cymru’s vision is of a Wales that makes full use
of its renewable energy resource by 2050 and we aim to ensure that
the maximum benefits of this accrue to Wales.
4. Wales has faced a number of obstacles to the achievement of its targets for renewable energy generation and development in Wales has lagged behind the rest of the UK. This committee has previously examined many of these issues (our evidence to the committee previously is available here) and we, in conjunction with our partners in industry and Government have sought to overcome many of these barriers. We have since worked with Government to produce a register of community benefit for onshore wind, and continue to work with partners in order to alleviate concern over transport issues in mid Wales.
5.
RenewableUK Cymru will be happy to provide oral evidence to the
committee on any matters that may be of interest arising from this
paper.
Climate Change
6.
We fully support the introduction of statutory emissions targets
and interim emission targets. The 2050 emissions reflects current
UK policy. The introduction of this Bill is an opportunity for the
Welsh Ministers to set direction through targets that reflects
Wales’ ambitions as a leader on sustainable development, as
reflected in One Wales: One Planet, Well-being of Future
Generations (Wales) Act, and Energy Wales: A low carbon transition.
In this sense we suggest that the Committee may wish to consider
whether Wales should have emissions targets above and beyond the
targets set by UK Government and EU directives.
7. Emissions targets will be a key way of ensuring Wales’ continues to be seen as an attractive place to deploy renewable energy generation in the coming decades and will provide policy stability that our investors request.
Marine Licensing
8.
This presents an opportunity to clarify the Marine licensing
process and align it with processes for terrestrial planning and
environmental permissions where appropriate. In particular we
believe the bill presents an opportunity to introduce statutory
timescales for determination of applications (and examination if
relevant), as is the case in the terrestrial planning system and
has more recently been achieved in the Planning (Wales) Bill for
[terrestrial] Developments of National Significance.
9. As Wales attracts more and more interest from Wave and Tidal energy developers, a clear and predictable Marine licensing regime will be significant selling point for Wales as an investment location.
For more information or clarification please contact Matthew Williams: matthew.williams@renewableuk.com