Routing grid connections for the Celtic Sea’s proposed floating offshore wind farms via South West England would be “very damaging” for the development of Wales’ transmission network, the country’s climate change minister has warned.
Giving evidence to the House of Commons Welsh Committee’s ongoing inquiry into the nation’s grid capacity, Julie James said the South Wales transmission network is “not fit for purpose”.
Current arrangements, which puts the onus on developers of new generating capacity to pay for any required upgrades to the network, are a “huge issue” for the floating wind projects proposed off the Welsh coast in the Celtic Sea, she said.
Tom Glover, UK country chair of RWE, told the same committee recently that there is no grid capacity available in south Wales’ main transmission line to connect the 400MW offshore wind it is planning to develop in the Celtic Sea. He said RWE is keen to bring the electricity onshore in Pembrokeshire, where it could be integrated with the gas-powered station that the company runs in the county, but had been offered a connection in Devon instead.
James said: “Any suggestion that that capacity should be taken in via Devon or somewhere would be very damaging indeed to the ability of the transmission network to be fit for purpose in Wales.”
She added that the current “very damaging market-led system” has resulted in “prohibitive” costs in those situations where there is “no transmission network and the first project up needs to pay for that.
“We need to have a much more proactive approach to planning, not just a reaction to commercial opportunities.”
The Celtic Sea is one of the two main areas of UK seabed which have been identified for development of floating offshore wind.
James also said the Welsh government is keen to ensure that Wales’ population receives a bigger share of the wealth generated by renewable developments than has happened historically.
“We are very determined that this time in exploiting our natural resources the people of Wales will directly benefit from that, whereas in previous exploitation of resources, particularly coal and so on, it was very much exported out of Wales.”
She added it is understandable that communities in off-grid areas would feel “frustrated” if they saw wind farms being developed on their doorsteps while having to pay expensive bills to heat their homes with oil.