The UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan will “supercharge efforts” to make Britain a clean energy superpower, by investing in homegrown energy to grow the economy.
Visiting a wind farm in West Wales which benefitted from Welsh government funding, the Starmer and Morgan have pledged close cooperation to “unleash the benefits of a publicly owned energy company”, in the pair’s first official visit since the appointment of the First Minister.
Starmer will pledge to build on work already done by the Welsh government to establish a publicly owned energy company.
The two leaders are joining forces to deliver clean energy investment across Wales and the rest of the UK.
Great British Energy is part of the UK government’s commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower, with clean power by 2030.
Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru – a company owned by the Welsh administration – was built from scratch in just 12 months and is already boosting Wales’s green economy and setting the UK on course for energy security.
This is on course to produce 1GW of clean energy by 2040.
First Minister Morgan said: “Our publicly-owned renewable energy developer, Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru, is a long-term sustainable investment that puts net zero and the communities of Wales at the heart of the energy transition.
“While the previous UK government focused on fracking and fossil fuels – opposed by most communities and incompatible with our international obligations – we took positive action to ensure we deliver on our environmental commitments.
“Harvesting our wind and using it to produce power offers us, and the people of Wales, the ability to own the returns on what will be a significant investment.”
Starmer added: “We have inherited an incoherent energy policy that has left homes up and down the country vulnerable to rocketing energy bills.
“But the Welsh government has made important strides that we can now build on, and I am determined that Wales is at the very heart of our mission to make Britain an energy superpower, with renewables powering homes right across the country.”
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “If Britain reformed our energy market to reflect prices locally with zonal pricing, Welsh people could see lower bills as a direct result of wind farms in their area.
“Our ‘Fan Club’ in Caerphilly in Wales already provides up to 50% discounts on electricity when the breeze is strong at the customers’ local wind turbine.
“This could become the norm, not the exception.”