Wednesday 20 October 2010

Potential for magnificent Severn renewables is being wasted says Plaid

Potential for magnificent Severn renewables is being wasted says Plaid

Plaid Cymru has welcomed this week's decision to scrap the Severn Barrage but has slammed the government for a "failure to invest in other renewable energies in the Severn Estuary".

Elfyn Llwyd, one of the party's three MPs in Westminster, said yesterday: "The Severn Barrage was always an expensive 'silver bullet' pushed by the Labour Party to show their supposedly green credentials.

He said the previous government had wasted "the opportunity to invest in smaller, sustainable and more credible renewable energy schemes in the area, such as tidal lagoons and a tidal reef which would have generated significant energy but with less environmental damage".

And he accused the coalition government of making the same mistakes. "The ConDem government is following an equally unimaginative route which lacks any aspirational vision for future energy development.

"The failure to invest in renewable energy in the Severn Estuary shows why it is so important that energy powers be devolved to the National Assembly for Wales. In Wales, we have huge natural resources and we would prioritise the development of sustainable, renewable energy."

He also said Plaid wanted to see "the lands of the Crown Estate off the Welsh shoreline and powers to develop major energy infrastructure" devolved to the Welsh Assembly "if we are to make any realistic progress on these important issues".

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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