Welsh Govt accused of spiting English over green energy in Telegraph news article
The Welsh Government has been accused of “spoiling the countryside with wind farms to spite the English” in a bizzare Telegraph news article about green energy.
The newspaper claimed the Senedd was pressing ahead with onshore wind farm plans instead of offshore projects in order to avoid sharing control with the UK Government and sending fees to the Crown Estate.
In the article, the Welsh Government was accused of taking a “nationalist policy stance” on green energy.
Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Fay Jones told the Telegraph that the Welsh Government “doesn’t seem to have offshore in its sights because it won’t derive all of the benefit from that.”
There are significant policy differences between the UK and Welsh governments when it comes to renewable energy – both of which have regulatory responsibilities.
Onshore wind projects are the responsibility of the Welsh Government and offshore wind and marine energy over 12 nautical miles from Welsh shores is not devolved.
The new generation of offshore wind projects tends to be more than 20 kilometres offshore.
Small projects of under 10 megawatts (MW) in Wales are decided on at local authority level, while those over 10MW go through the DNS (Developments of National Significance) planning process.
Onshore projects may be built on farmland or private land with the approval of the owners, or on forestry land owned by the Welsh Government and managed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
The responsibility for offshore wind projects is split between the Crown Estate, which has to lease the seabed, and the UK Government for approval and grid connection.
The Crown Estate is an independent company which belongs to the monarch for the duration of their reign, though the revenue from its £16 billion property portfolio flows directly to the Treasury.
Control
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts has recently made calls to devolve control over the Crown Estate’s properties in order provide better energy security.
The Crown Estate owns the UK seabed out to 12 nautical miles, and Ms Saville Roberts said an arrangement similar to Scotland would give Wales a direct say in how the profits from new floating wind farms planned off the Welsh coast would be spent.
The Telegraph reported that campaigners have warned that Cardiff is pressing ahead with onshore turbines to “thwart Crown Estate”.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Ross Evans, of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) said: “There is a reluctance to get behind it [offshore wind].
“The biggest reason is because they haven’t got control over it because it is up to the Crown Estate and the UK Government for the major projects offshore.”
Mr Evans also told the Telegraph there is a risk that offshore projects will not count towards the Welsh Government’s green energy targets if they come ashore in England.
He added: “They just want Wales to be a net exporter of energy and sod the rest of the UK, that is the impression I get.”
CPRW has argued that Wales could produce twice the energy it needs from offshore wind alone.
Proposals for far offshore wind power projects in the Irish and Celtic Sea combined could generate at least 100 TWH of energy, on the basis of recorded average wind speeds.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said, “We need a range of technologies, at different scales, to meet our future electricity needs as we move towards a net zero energy system.
“Onshore and offshore wind are cost-effective options to generate electricity and have a clear role to play.
“We are strong supporters of offshore wind and have been pressing the Crown Estate to develop a long term plan to secure green energy in a way that can bring economic benefits to our communities.”
Fay Jones MP was contacted for comment but did not provide a statement.
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Perhaps one of the reasons that the Saesneg want some more of our water is because the lead in theirs has got to such levels that it is producing these kinds of insane articles in the Tellygraff ?(the official newspaper of everyone you, rightly, hate)
What about the fact there are .ore people of Welsh heritage living in England than Wales. Let’s forget them for we are the new Welsh history that forgets the reality of the past.
The Torygraph are at it again – same old same old!
Same for Fay Jones.
I always thought Fay Jones represented a Welsh constituency? she’s just another career politician with her snout firmly in the trough, follows the herd, her track record is abysmal.
The attack just sounds like stirring. The Tories must be getting desperate if they are resorting to that sort of poor quality, lame, anti-Welsh abuse tactic.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Ross Evans, of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) said: “There is a reluctance to get behind it [offshore wind] – perhaps as offshore wind is the responsibility of the Crown Estate and UK Gov and not devolved, the Welsh Gov cannot get behind offshore wind? If it did I’m sure the Torygraph would criticise the Welsh Gov for getting involved in a matter over which they have no power.
Don’t forget that new onshore wind turbines are, to all intents and purposes, banned in England. I suspect the fact that we’ve embraced the technology is somewhat of an embarrassment the other side of Offa’s Dyke.
The right wing rags in London hate the Welsh government as it has shown what could be done if a government was more people and society focused. The Welsh government isn’t perfect but compared to the cruel fools in Westminster people can see it’s trying it’s best on a meager budget. Things like better management of the COVID situation, free prescriptions and continuing with the old system of student finance payments stick in people’s minds. Imagine what sort of a country we could create with fully control of all our resources and finances. The rags see this potential and resent… Read more »
What a load of rubbish. CPRW are way off the mark too. Wales already creates twice as much power as it uses. Wales already is a net exporter of energy – to the rest of the UK. I know CPRW are against onshore wind but they should not let the lies the Tories tell drag them down in the same direction. Time to look at the facts CPRW.
The facts are that by 2050 we will consume three times the electricity we do today, up from 14 TWh to about 45 TWh. We can produce 100 TWh from offshore wind. The only reason we produce twice what we use today (demand 14 TWh, supply 30 TWh) is because Pembroke power station, the largest gas station in Europe, produces 16 TWh. Pembroke cannot carry on doing that beyond 2035 So, using just the sea, we can continue to be a net exporter. Fixed base offshore wind is now cheaper than onshore or solar The Telegraph is playing typical division… Read more »
Interesting that today Nation.Cymru describes this story as ‘bizzare’, when last week you ran a story that also quoted CPRW and Mr Evans saying basically the same thing. How was it not bizzare then too?
The Torygraph comments about Wales are RACIST they cannot wait to put us down
England always the ‘victim’ despite the blatant unfairness in the treatment of our nation.
When will the right wing Tory/English press ever give Wales and the Welsh Government any credit for their actions?
Don’t hold much hope that a Labour Govt will improve things as they will also embark on a unionist agenda!
Let me get this straight. According to the trash Telegraph the “nationalist “, yeah right, Welsh Government is spiting the English because it chooses onshore wind farms rather than offshore because it would give the English Crown Estate the profits rather Wales, and that’s bad? Two words. Bloody morons!
Not a good look for England. I don’t want to cast aspersions on the average English citizen. However the general reputation of England as a whole is that they are a country that would rather knock others down than work to improve things for themselves. The narrative this article addresses only supports this. Why is it that a country acting with any level of independence to improve things for themselves or contributing to international efforts seen as a personal insult to England? Why do they care so much about Scottish, NI and Welsh governance when they have so many issues… Read more »
Can we take this seriously for a moment? Wales wants to raise funds for itself Wales needs to raise as much as possible for itself due to HS2 not being devolved, refusal to electrify rail line to Swansea, refusal to allow Cardiff Airport to control its own tax EU funding isn’t being replaced pound for pound by UK since Brexit Crown estates aren’t devolved to Wales as they are in Scotland If this means that Wales is more likely to back onshore wind than offshore wind, and if it’s bad news for people living in rural areas, isn’t it a… Read more »
I always thought that the ‘Welsh’ Labour government covered Wales in wind turbines for England’s benefit and to spite the Welsh.
The Scots get the reve ue from the Scottish Crown Estate, why not Wales?
And Westminster not allocating Wales hs2 money was ‘spiting the Welsh?’