Welsh Lib Dems urge Welsh Government to capitalise on green energy

TODAY (10th January 2024) in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the Welsh Labour government to accelerate the implementation of the Net Zero Skills Action Plan.

According to BBC analysis, the year 2023 has been confirmed as the hottest year on record. And last week, the Met Office reported that the UK experienced its second warmest year on record in 2023.

Commenting, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds said:

“We here in Wales are blessed with a wealth of resources when it comes to renewable energy, and it’s high time we capitalise on this.

Over the past few months, there have been considerable progress made in achieving long term capacity for floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea.

However, such progress can only be capitalised on with a considerable workforce. With expert estimates stating that 10,000 new jobs are needed to manufacture just 1GW of floating offshore wind.

According to a report from RenewableUK Cymru, Wales simply does not have this workforce yet.

The key word in this of course being yet.

If the Welsh Government was to accelerate the Net Zero Skills Action Plan to prepare Wales for the opportunities ahead, then not only would we secure that workforce for the future but we would also ensure that our climate targets for 2035 are being met on time.

At a time when the fight against climate change is nearing its critical moment, we desperately need to ensure that we are at the forefront.”