Contact/Cyswllt: Sian Cliff
02920 898342 / sian.cliff@wales.gov.uk

Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment, Mick Bates, launched a stellar attack on the Labour-Plaid Assembly Government this week over a lack of commitment to renewable energy targets in Wales.

The UK Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has backtracked on the UK Government’s target to generate 20% of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2020, announcing that Britain would only aim to generate 10-15% of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

Commenting on the lack of progress towards Welsh renewable energy targets Mick Bates said:

“Climate change is a huge threat to our environment. In Wales there is huge potential for generating energy from renewable sources yet we are over 70% behind our target of producing 10% renewable energy by 2010.

“The Welsh Assembly has a policy to generate 800MW of renewable energy from on-shore wind energy development by 2010, yet with only 68.55MW installed since 2005 we are 79% behind our schedule.

“These figures are shameful and embarrassing and now the Labour Party in Westminster plans to abandon renewable targets that were helping us move towards a new low-carbon future.

“Reducing renewable energy targets will surely favour nuclear energy developments right here in Wales over which we will have no say whatsoever – this Plaid-Labour Government has already shown that it will happily condemn our country to a toxic nuclear future.

“There is no ambitious drive from this coalition to seek powers over energy developments greater than 50MW - the whole industry is crying out for support and I only hope that this Labour-Plaid Government will stand by its renewable energy targets and not follow the UK’s shameful lead, by abandoning it’s responsibility to our environment and to our future at the very first opportunity.”


End / Diwedd

Notes to Editors

1. Speaking on Newsnight last night, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said of Britain’s contribution to the EU target of generating 20% of electricity from renewables by 2020: “We’re negotiating with the European Commission, but it’s got to be a considerable figure. It’s got to be somewhere between 10% and 15%.”

2. Last October, David Miliband, the then Environment Secretary, told the House of Commons:

“We are committed to generating 20 per cent of our electricity supply from renewables by 2020.”
<http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm061030/debtext/61030-0005.htm#06103012000380>