Wales to launch state-owned renewable energy company

The yet-to-be-named company will initially look at developing offshore wind farms in the country’s woodlands, Wales Govt confirmed on Tuesday.

It is expected to launch in April 2024 and will be the only public company of its kind in the UK.

National Climate Change Minister Julie James said the “significant” profits made by the business would be reinvested back into the community, with the proceeds also going towards making homes more energy efficient and creating clean energy jobs.

Speaking in the Senedd, Ms James said: “This is a truly historic moment for Wales.

“If other countries can go further, we should expect a significant return on our investment and – because we share the ambitions of these other countries – we have a real opportunity to generate returns that will really help us achieve here.”

She added: “We are in a climate emergency and our approach is in stark contrast to the UK Government’s focus on fracking and fossil fuels – which is opposed by most communities and inconsistent with our international commitments.”

The minister described the current UK market as “bad for bill payers” and said the ambition was to make energy cheaper for Welsh households.

Work manager sir Keir Starmer last month pledged to create a state-owned clean energy company within the party’s first year in office if it comes to power.

Cardiff Bay Government has said it is working on its idea to launch a renewable energy business from early 2020.

It is expected that the first projects will begin two to three years after the company’s launch, and the money will begin to flow by the end of the decade.

However, limited network capacity outside the North and South Wales corridors will limit the types of projects the Government can explore.

A report published last week by the UK Government’s Welsh Affairs Committee called the lack of action by Westminster to improve network connectivity a “significant threat to economic growth in Wales”.

Committee chairman Stephen Crabb, MP, said Wales had “huge potential” in the renewable energy market and called for “acceleration” of grid improvements.

At the moment, many renewable energy projects in Wales, as in the rest of the UK, are being developed by other public companies.

Pen y Cymoedd, the largest wind farm in England and Wales, capable of producing enough electricity to power 15% of homes in Wales each year, was developed by Swedish company Vattenfall.

Another project in South Wales, called Y Bryn, is being developed by a consortium of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Coriolis. ESB is 95% owned by the Irish government.

Other state-owned developers active in Wales include China and Norway.