Wales 'missing out on green jobs'

by bbc.co.uk - 19/01/2010

"Wales has missed out on the chance to create manufacturing jobs in green energy, says the head of a renewable energy company."

The commercial director of Cardiff-based Eco2 will tell an assembly committee that Wales is an unattractive place for green firms to invest.

Darren Williams blamed a "slow and unpredictable planning process".

But the assembly government said it was committed to "making Wales a leading provider of green energy".

He said virtually all of the components and manufacturing of wind turbines was carried out in Scandinavia and Germany.

Ministers have said they want the Welsh economy to benefit from low carbon technology through the development and manufacturing of components.
        
If we examine wind turbine manufacture... virtually all of the components and manufacturing is carried out in Scandinavia and Germany
Darren Williams, Eco2

But Mr Williams said: "Wales was, and still is, seen as the hardest place in the UK to develop renewable projects because of the slow and unpredictable planning process.

"It is difficult to envisage that any manufacturing-based opportunities will be created in Wales in any of the established large-scale renewable technologies."

The enterprise and learning committee is conducting an inquiry into "generating green jobs in the green economy".

Mr Williams added: "If we examine wind turbine manufacture, for instance, virtually all of the components and manufacturing is carried out in Scandinavia and Germany for the European turbine supply markets.

"A number of attempts have been made to establish turbine manufacturing in the UK, but the UK market is seen as too small and too unstable by the main turbine manufacturers to establish UK-based production facilities."

'Leading provider'

Mr Williams said there could be an opportunity to create manufacturing jobs in new technologies such as micro renewables - small domestic-scale devices - and wave generation devices.

"The starting point for this must be to encourage a technology developer into the area and get the developer to install its trial device in Welsh waters as quickly as possible," he said.

The Welsh Assembly Government said it had a "green jobs strategy" to make existing jobs in Wales more sustainable and carbon efficient, and to help "generate a range of new jobs on emerging green technologies and products".

A spokesperson said: "The growth of the 'green' technology and services has been rapid over the past five years - the sector is already estimated to be worth 9% of Welsh GDP.

"We are committed to making Wales a leading provider of green energy, produced not only by wind, but from biomass, marine and micro generation.

Job creation

"Wind farms have an important role to play as long as they are appropriately located and subject to proper planning controls."

The British Wind Energy Association, in its evidence to the committee, said Wales needed to act now if it was to ensure the shift to renewable technology brought widespread economic and job creation opportunities.

"The majority of offshore development is expected to go ahead off the east coast of Britain. However, there will be a need for a port base somewhere on the west coast," said the association.

"Developing a sizable manufacturing capacity for marine renewables would require a lot of effort and investment to catch up with Scotland.

"There is manufacturing potential to develop onshore turbine components as is shown by the production of small wind turbines by Quiet Revolution in Pembrokeshire."

More Details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8457513.stm