Green Industries Wales | Issue 1

Green Industries Wales – Discovering, Informing and Connecting

Wales is on the cusp of a critical transformation.The race to net zero presents innumerable challenges, and a multitude of opportunities that will enable us to build a cleaner, greener and sustainable future for every community in Wales.

We have the opportunity to present ourselves as a confident, smart, small nation - with bold ambitions to take the lead in creating a decarbonised economy. Our actions alone will not save the planet, but our ambition and innovation can create an exemplary economic model for the international community to follow.

Let us highlight our opportunities and project our confidence to fellow travellers on the journey to net zero Let us examine the issues that might slow our progress, and together, let us highlight the opportunities that will take us forward.

Making the research, innovation and wisdom that is to be found in our industries and communities, visible to influencers across the political, industrial and economic landscape of Wales and beyond, is key.

So we begin a transparent, open process, to educate and inform, to connect every

stakeholder - from industry leader to environmental campaigner, from citizen to minister - sharing our knowledge.

The establishment of Green Industries Wales is the beginning of a vital mission - to bring together those united in the quest to realise net zero and build the green economy Wales and the world needs.

The work starts now. Join us.

Countless Connections. Many Channels.

One Business Voice for the whole of Wales.

Business News Wales is the voice of Welsh business – offering you a choice of channels to connect you with the people you want to reach, including:

Articles, Features, Interviews and Podcasts that give you a powerful, national online platform to tell your story.

Highly engaging Digital Discussions and immersive Virtual Events that ‘put you in the room’ and bring your messages alive in real-time.

Find out more about connecting with the audiences you want, anywhere in Wales. e: mark@businessnewswales.com t: 029 20376 122

Business News Wales, Unit D, Tramshed Tech, Pendyris Street, Cardiff, CF11 6BH A high-quality limited-print-run Magazine delivered directly into the hands of key decision-makers in the Welsh business, government and procurement ecosystem.

Mark Powney Founder, Green Industries Wales

Welcome to the magazine of

This first edition lays out the extraordinary and inspirational work being undertaken to grow Wales’ green economy whilst highlighting the pioneers within the transition to net zero.

Wales is a small but hugely confident nation. It is also a smart and highly ambitious country, with aspirations to be a model for a sustainable decarbonised economy, and share the lessons learned on that journey with the UK and beyond.

Time has been lost. But this land of castles and coastlines, of mountains and valleys, of poets and legends - a nation at the heart of the UK’s fossil fuelled story - is striving to make up for lost ground.

Global connections and inward investment is accelerating and the UK and Welsh Governments are doing their best to steer a fast moving ship. However its now up to industry to take the lead in the development of Wales’ green economic opportunity.

Can Wales create a green economic model for the international community to follow?

Global emissions are as high as they have ever been, driving deadly weather patterns and affecting societies and ecosystems around the world.

Wales recognises that without strong and urgent action, the world will breach 1.5°C of warming in the 2030s, and that emissions must be cut rapidly and integrated with bold actions to adapt to climate impacts.

As part of the UK, Wales has a strong climate framework under the Climate Change Act (2008), and shares the UK’s ambitious territorial emissions targets aligned to the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, Wales’ commitment to tackling climate change, decarbonising, and growing its green economy has become a central objective for the Welsh Government.

Wales is also home to the world’s only Future Generations Commissioner, with a remit set out in law to be “the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales”.

In 2019 the Welsh Government declared a climate emergency and in May 2021 created the first climate change department among the four UK nations, under the ministerial leadership of Julie James MS. Wales has also set interim emission targets for 2030 and 2040, and a series of 5-year carbon budgets as way-markers along the route.

Meanwhile, every industry sector in Wales is poised to set out on the unmapped road to net zero. Businesses are in the vanguard of that journeyfrom technology to transport, food and agriculture, the built environment - from the big emitters to small SMEsWales is ready to grasp the nettle of decarbonisation and the economic benefits that it will bring.

The role of media can be transformational when embodied with an entrepreneurial spirt to inform and connect

Green Industries Wales is chaired by former first minister Carwyn Jones and managed and supported by a dedicated team at Business News Wales, ensuring all information gathered is distributed to all relevant industry stakeholders and the wider business community.

At its heart, Green Industries Wales is about connecting ideas and spotlighting the crucial breakthroughs and solutions needed to realise our economic opportunity.

Independent of government, GIW’s mission is to identify the challenges and opportunities facing every industry sector in Wales, every business - from small SMEs to the largest corporations - as the transition to the green economy takes effect.

What is Green Industries Wales

Green Industries Wales is an independent group of individuals and organisations - each with a valuable stake in progressing the green industries sector in Wales.

We embrace an entrepreneurial ‘can do’ approach to partnership working, and we encourage free thinking and knowledge sharing that will lead to practical outcomes across all sectors.

Key to GIW’s work is to grasp the transitional challenges faced by industry, make them visible to government, and help create pathways to overcome them. To achieve this, we have set up a variety of development units.

The journey to net zero in Wales needs private sector thinking and a radical new approach to the way in which our industries operate.

GIW is developing an internal eco system of partnerships with an emphasis on achieving goals at speed and at scale - a fully transparent ethos that reflects everyone’s interests and ambitions

If industry, academia and government move forward together, then success will take care of itself.

"At its heart, Green Industries Wales is about connecting ideas and spotlighting the crucial breakthroughs and solutions needed to realise our economic opportunity."

Key Development Units

Initially, Green industries Wales will focus on three key collaboration units - an internal eco system of partnerships with an emphasis on achieving goals at speed and at scale - a fully transparent ethos that reflects everyone’s interests and ambitions.

A Hybrid National Green Skills Council

Objective: Connect all skills-based stakeholders in Wales, with the objective of creating a joined-up approach to:

• Talent Mapping the Current & Emerging Green Economy Skills in Wales.

• Creating an accurate picture of ‘Green’ Human Capital in Wales.

• Identifying the connects/ disconnects between FE/HE skills provision.

• Developing a powerful magnet for inward investment and diaspora engagement.

• Identifying the skills required for the green economy (Leveraging industry involvement in the cocreation).

• Identifying the green jobs of the future.

The national green skills council is a conduit to harness the excellent work ongoing across the green industry arena. It will be a critical friend, consultative, advisory, and directional body, drawing on the wide skills and knowledge of the forum members.

It will provide wide counsel on green skills issues and offer informed opinion on their impact. It will provide unbiased insights and ideas from a third point of view, and will not operate at a delivery level, unless requested or need identified.

The national green skills council will provide non-binding strategic advice to all parties, who seek input from the forum on green industry skills matters.

Founder Members

• Leigh Hughes (CCR)

• Sian Lloyd Roberts (NWEAB)

• Jane Lewis (SBCD)

• Aggie Caesar-Homden (MWGD)

• Wyn Prichard (Construction Skills/NPTC Group of Colleges)

• Jay Sheppard (Marine Energy Wales)

• Grant Santos (Educ8)

• Nigel Hollett (CLA)

• Emma Edworthy (Welsh Government)

• Shirley Rogers (Careers Wales)

• Louise Dixey (Next Tourism Generation)

The forthcoming COP26 in Glasgow will be another reminder to us all that we need to change if we are to save the planet. Ways of working will have to evolve and there will need to be even more emphasis on recycling and sustainability. It’s a challenge we must all face.

We will see the birth and growth of new, green industries, creating jobs in ways unthought of only a few decades ago as we make those changes that we need to. From more renewable energy to industries such as steel, there will be new opportunities as we face a new, greener industrial revolution.

Wales needs to be in the forefront of this change. We have untapped, renewable resources but we need to ensure that the businesses that will be created to harvest those

resources have bases in Wales and create jobs in Wales. To do that, we need to create and maintain a skills pipeline to sustain those jobs.

Green Industries Wales was set up with this in mind. It’s a private sector initiative, independent of government that seeks to bring people and businesses together to come up with new ideas, to develop new skills and to put us at the forefront of creating a greener, healthier and wealthier economy.

The times we live in are both challenging and exciting. In Green Industries Wales we want our nation to meet those challenges so building a new economic base and helping to save the world. That’s our task. Let’s make it happen.

Carwyn Jones Chair, Green Industries Wales

Business Development & Investment Unit

Objective: Increase access to finance and advanced business support, establishing a go to point for pre-start and fast scaling viable ‘Green Industry’ ventures.

A collaboration of partners, the green industries business development & investment unit is fast developing. Managed by an experienced ‘been there done it’ team, this commercially active area of the cluster is set to become the go-to point for firms

looking for growth support and/ or direct investment. The Business Development & Investment Unit is establishing a variety of international funding partnerships designed to move at speed and pace.

Academia & Innovation Unit

Objective: To increase Wales’ share of R+D funding whilst developing a new era of private sector partnerships.

In early formation, this unit is tasked with connecting academia and industry with the aim of providing increased industry visibility to all

emerging research and technology. Spotlighting all university collaborations and initiatives.

Advisory Panel Members

Our advisory panel brings together a collective of industry leaders who have the experience to help ensure Green Industries Wales fulfils its ambitions: creating a collaboration model that truly supports the sector.

• Carwyn Jones – Chair (Green Industries Wales)

• Mark Powney – Green Industries Wales Founder (Business News Wales)

• Tony Miles – Green Industries Wales Founding Partner (DST Innovations Ltd /Batri Ltd)

• Dr Chris Williams (Head of Industrial Decarbonisation, Industry Wales)

• Robert O’Dwyer (Cardiff Capital Region)

• Robyn Lovelock (Ambition North Wales)

• Jane Davidson (Pro ViceChancellor Emeritus, UWTSD)

• Frank Holmes (Manufacturing Wales)

• Rhian-Mari Thomas (Chief Executive of the Green Finance Institute)

• Ian Price (CBI)

• Ben Cottam (FSB)

• Dafydd Gruffydd (Menter Mon)

• Jess Hooper (Marine Energy Wales)

• Andrew Diplock (Angel Investor)

• Ioan Jenkins (Prosperity Energy)

• Siwan Rees (Impact Innovations)

• Andy Richardson (Food & Drink Wales Industry Board)

Contributions Managing

Editorial

Green Industries Wales

Discovering, Informing & Connecting

Design

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Suzanne

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Discover.

Working together towards a net zero Wales

The Welsh Government’s Net Zero Wales plan covering its second carbon budget (2021-2025) announced on 28 October 2021 is a call to arms.

Setting out 123 policies and proposals, and specific ambition statements, the latest chapter in the plan to tackle climate change in Wales is an appeal to every citizen, community and business “to embed the climate emergency in the way they think, work, play and travel.” Calling for a “decade of action” the government says that more progress in decarbonising is needed in the next ten years than has been achieved the last thirty years.

The government’s latest road map on the journey to net zero talks of immediate targets, such as the public service reducing emissions speedily (to be collectively net zero by 2030), and laying the foundation for longterm and systemic change, including “revolutionising the way we support

and incentivise farmers to manage their land” to “planning for a national energy grid that is fit for a renewable future.”

Devolved powers are reflected on, with the plan noting that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland accounted for 22% of UK total emissions in 2019, but the powers to tackle these emissions are not all devolved. Wales’ contribution is particularly important to the UK’s reduction target, due to its large agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

But the plan notes almost 40% of all abatement required in Wales in the next thirty years will take place in sectors where key powers are ‘partially’ or ‘mostly’ devolved, according to the the Committee for Climate Change.

Once again the Westminster-Welsh Government divide gets a mention, with the plan including an appeal for greater collaboration.

“We continue to call on UK Government to be more transparent and collaborative in the development of policy” it says, “to bring greater clarity to the decarbonisation pathway of Wales and the UK as a whole.”

The Net Zero Wales document outlining Wales’ second carbon budget contains a number of ambition statements reflecting the Government’s latest thinking on a raft of vital sectors, and the latest interventions to be pursued.

Wales’ Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, with First Minister, Mark Drakeford, and Professor David Worsley from Swansea University College of Engineering, at the launch of the Net Zero Wales strategy in Port Talbot. Photo: Huw John

Electricity and Heat Generation

By 2025, 1GW additional renewable energy capacity will be installed. From 2021 there will be no new build unabated fossil fuel generation in Wales. All current unabated gas generation removed from the system by 2035. In this high renewables system, any additional supply will be met from decarbonised power plant from 2035 at the latest.

Transport

We aim to reduce emissions from passenger transport by 22% in 2025 (from 2019) and 98% in 2050 through demand reduction, modal shift and the uptake of low carbon technologies. Our aim is to reduce the number of car miles travelled per person by 10% by 2030 and to increase the proportion of trips by sustainable travel mode (public transport and active travel) to 35% by 2025 and 39% by 2030. By 2025 10% of passenger travel will be by zero emission car and 48% ofnew car sales will be zero emission, we will have a comprehensive network of electric vehicle charging points, and will also have transitioned a large proportion of our bus, taxi and private hire vehicles fleet to zero emission vehicles.

Residental Buildings

By 2025 we expect around 148,000 houses across Wales receive retrofit measures to reduce heat loss By 2025 we aim to move from fossil fuels through increasing the proportion of heat that is electrified by 3% by 2025. By 2025 all new affordable homes in Wales will be built to net zero carbon, and our ambition is that our net zero standards are adopted by developers of all new homes.

Net Zero Wales Ambitions 2021-2025

Industry and Business

By 2025 we expect to see a decrease in energy usage in industry of 4% as a result of energy efficiencies whilst building a well-being economy. By 2025 we want to see an increase in electrification in industrial processes by an average of 3%; and growing hydrogen by an average of 3%. In addition, over CB2 the primary foundations for further industrial transformation will be laid through our UK ETS policies and is expected of UK Government’s net zero Industrial Strategy to enable increased electrification, fuel switching and CCS from the 2030s.

Agriculture

The new Agriculture Bill will be the biggest policy change the agriculture sector has seen in decades, our main goal within this carbon budget period will be supporting and preparing the sector to transition into a new way of working, reducing their overall business carbon footprint. During Carbon Budget 2 we will be developing our Sustainable Farming Scheme and by introducing low carbon farming practices as scheme requirements to all farms across Wales, we will reduce on farm emissions through improved livestock, land and manure management. 10% of agriculture land will be shared to support tree planting by 2050 while maintaining a strong food production sector across Wales.

Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry

Wales will increase woodland creation rates, committing to supporting a total of 43,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030 and 180,000ha by 2050. Over 3,000 hectares of Peatland will be on a recovery pathway by 2025.

Waste Management

Between now and 2050, we will build on our strengths as one of the world’s highest recycling nations, to become a zero waste nation by 2050. That will mean that virtually no materials are buried or burned and we have effectively 100% re-use and recycling. By keeping resources in use the sector will support the wider transition to a circular more resource-efficient and net zero carbon economy. By encouraging behaviour change and improved waste management, we will continue to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill sites, prioritising the reduction of biodegradable waste to as close to zero as possible by 2025. By 2025, greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites will reduce by 19% compared to 2019.

Sharing the journey

Julie

James, Minister for Climate Change, on leading the Welsh Government’s plans to deliver net zero.

People in Wales have seen the effects of the climate emergency - around the world and at home, and there’s a greater awareness now more than ever of the dangers climate change brings. I believe it is the job of government to make sure all sectors of our society, know what to do in terms of their behaviour and their agendas, to get us on the path to net zero.

And we need to accelerate the pace of change. We’ve twice as much to do in the next 10 years as we did in the last 30.

Our immediate priorities include working alongside the big players - the electricity generators - to green the grid and to leave behind fossil fuels. Wales is particularly reliant on gas and we need reduce this dramatically.

Protecting our industries as much as possible in the transition is vital. Our steel industry for instance; it’s highly efficient already, but we need to help it move to greener fuels.

The Welsh Government is here to help with behaviour-change; telling the story we need to share, that allows every individual and organisation in Wales understand how they can best play their part in the journey.

Government’s job is there to put the platforms in place to encourage people do the right thing and to discourage them from doing the wrong thing. And we’ve done it before.

Our recycling record went from one of the worst in the world, to the third best

in the world in a short period of time. That’s not because we enforced it. It was because we brought people along the journey with us.

There are some who still haven't made modifications to their behaviour as far as reducing their carbon footprint, but our surveys show they're in the minority in Wales.

There may be some who say, “Well, we're too small, with three million people. What difference can we possibly make when we have giant countries that are not changing their behaviour?” But that minority are wrong.

Wales is a small but smart nation. Our academic research centres are helping countries around the world meet the challenges of climate change. And by our actions, we influence others.

We have introduced programmes that allow people to make their homes more insulated and energy efficient, and to move away from gas heating. How to solve the poor housing/low insulation swap to less carbon-intensive heating systems is one of the big global challenges, and Wales is involved in finding the best solution.

We need to change the way that we look at travel. We need to green our cars and move to electric and non-fossil fuel, but it's much more than that.

We need to look at new models of transport such as shared car schemes, and further encourage home and local working, to reduce congestion and improve air quality.

We need to get better at public transport and active travel - to learn from countries like Germany and its regional governments on how they are managing such transformations.

It’s all about helping people to change their behaviours, making it easier to do the right thing.

Marine energy growth is high on our agenda. The next big renewable project will be floating wind in the Celtic Sea and we are well-placed to take advantage in this area. We are determined to ensure our ports are in a position to grasp this far-reaching opportunity.

What do we want out of COP26? We want all countries to embrace the under 1.5C warming threshold seriously. Wales is part of an alliance of the UK devolved administrations, encouraging the UK Government to go further with its targets. We are a member of the Under2 Coalition - the climate agreement between subnational governments globally, which commits to limiting emissions to 80-95% below 1990 levels, and below 2 annual metric tons per capita by 2050 – the level of emission reduction necessary to limit global warming to under 2°C by the end of this century.

The road may be untravelled. There will be obstacles, but Wales will not be found wanting on the journey we must all make to a sustainable future.

Industry insights

Ian Price CBI Wales Director

At COP26, the eyes of the world will be on the UK as we look to build a more sustainable future worldwide. While global summits attract massive attention, for most of us, the net zero journey begins at home.

From government to business, NGOs to consumers, we all share a vision for a high wage, high investment, more sustainable and more prosperous Welsh economy. While the moral case to tackle climate change has always been clear, there’s also growing recognition that the net zero journey offers massive economic opportunities. Wales sits perfectly poised to capitalise on them.

Take electric vehicles for example, we seem to be seeing more and more investment in EVs in South Wales every week. That’s a great start and, with our

Richard Selby Director and co-founder, Pro Steel Engineering and National Chair of IoD Wales

Business like ours have historically gone about our work and have only had to reactively consider our environmental outputs, to a certain extent. That has rightly had to change, and so have the mindsets of directors like me.

There are plenty of opportunities for businesses like ours to make small, yet very meaningful changes for the better. Ideally, we would like to be making large strides, but these things can’t happen overnight, so we need to put the necessary groundwork in place, to ensure we do it properly for the benefit of the future. As a start, we have been looking internally at how the way we operate can help to reduce CO₂ that we produce unnecessarily. By benchmarking our existing usage, and creating a roadmap to net zero, we can see the rate and level of progress as we go. By starting now and identifying

incredible legacy in the automotive sector, it’s an area where Wales can truly be a world leader.

Similarly, with heat being the largest single source of UK carbon emissions, and the UK Government having just released its Heat & Buildings Strategy, the race is on to decarbonise heat in homes and commercial buildings. Research has shown that will create a huge number of new well-paying jobs – that’s something we can embrace as we emerge from the pandemic.

COP26 maybe, as John Kerry said recently, is the "last best hope for the world to get its act together." Time is short to deliver the positive change we need and seize the economic opportunities that come with our net zero journey.

supporting organisations like South Wales Industrial Cluster for the best advice, I feel we can get into a good position for future work as we can tangibly demonstrate our commitment.

We’re already hearing about the opportunities within this space coming to market and these will only increase as manufacturers get on board. Hydrogen production, offshore floating wind, Swansea Lagoon project, decarbonisation of social housing and net zero housebuilding are just a few areas we can look at working on, and these are just the ones announced in the media in recent weeks. The opportunities will come in, we just need to be in the best position and ahead of the game to be in with a good chance of demonstrating that we are the organisation committed to making positive changes, and therefore share the ethos of such projects.

Paul Slevin

President Chambers Wales

The last twenty months have been a testing time for many businesses and a period in their lives that many managers and directors have or may never experience again.

The ongoing uncertainty and changing circumstances left many companies unsure about their route through or their futures. Some will say that it is the cocktail of support from Governments that has ensured that many have survived. We would suggest that much of the survival is down to the dogged determination of businesses to innovate and adapt to a fast-changing environment.

And as we emerge into the next normal, we find the need to change again, to further adapt and to take on new challenges. Fractured or slow supply chains, rising costs, the need for new skills sets and the urgent need to move to a net zero environment heaps more challenges on businesses at a time when recovery is probably the primary focus. Survival now is the mountain that many face and at a time when other issues start to crowd the agendas.

But time after time businesses in Wales demonstrate without fail their ability to adapt, to flex and to innovate. Our creative mindset allows managers and directors to steer routes though complex issues and ensure not just survival but opportunity. Now is the time to dig deep and do that again.

But this should not be done alone. Businesses must now reach out for support, for learning, for opportunity. There are some old and tired words in this area that many people shudder when they hear them. Collaboration and networking are, for some, cliched expressions of management speak. But the spirit of these activities must now form the backbone of our recovery.

More than that, done effectively they can and will provide businesses in Wales with a strong competitive advantage.

The expression ‘Team Wales’ has never been more important and if we are to rise to the challenge, a challenge shared by many other countries across the world, then we need to reach out. Every business needs to link with universities, schools and colleges. They must reach out up and down their supply chains, link with their peers, explore working with their competitors and look to form solid connections with their markets across the world. This is not a time of pioneers but a time for building solid, focused and open networks that give all of its participants confidence, strength and agility.

During the height of the pandemic, we saw great examples of how businesses, governments, education, trade unions and representative bodies worked closely to achieve a shared and known outcome. That collaboration produced exceptional results and continues to do so.

Continuing this approach will help each and every business to address proactively the challenges in their supply chains, with their people and their markets. Our present and future competitive advantage is based on innovation. Our fast paced world requires and constant cycle of refreshed thinking and action. That is better done in groups of like-minded individuals. The collected brain is more powerful!

Let us not now lose that learning. We cannot afford to return to an isolationist approach to our worlds. Working together produces a stronger result for our businesses, for our people, for our communities and for Wales.

Decarbonising our industries: Leading the race to net zero

Wales has a proud industrial heritage. Today its industries are the powerhouse of the Welsh economy, delivering more than a million jobs* across agriculture, construction, energy, hospitality, manufacturing, mining, science, technology and tourism.

Given the importance of industry as an employer, innovator and generator of GVA to ‘Wales plc’ decarbonisation presents huge challenges and opportunities. We need to steer a pathway that ensures the growth of a resilient, dynamic matrix of industrial sectors, where we can continue to exploit our capabilities in new low-carbon technologies and markets, transforming into a green and competitive industrial base.

“Being one of the UK’s largest industrial emitters brings both huge challenges and massive opportunities”

Achieving this at speed and at scale will be paramount, given the current emissions level of Welsh industry. At 14 MICO2e, our industries account for around 30% of the total emissions in Wales. Iron and steel production (11.0%), together with petroleum refining (4.9%) and manufacturing and construction (2.8%), are responsible for a substantial part of the total - but the diversity of our industrial base is demonstrated in the significant emissions of many other industries.

The net result? Welsh industry is responsible for one of the UK’s largest emission levels, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide (95.83%), methane (3.53%) and nitrous oxide (0.63%). The challenge we face? By 2030, we need to have reduced our industry sector emissions by 43% from baseline (1990s) levels.

How are we going to do that?

By drastically improving efficiency across our use of energy, materials, processes and waste heat.

By radically increasing low carbon heat and industrial process measures.

By working closer than ever before with R&D to develop the step-change technological options needed for wholesale industrial decarbonisation.

And, critically, by collaboration between industry, government and communities, exploring the opportunities of decarbonisation, such as fuel switching, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS); plus offsetting the residual carbon dioxide by other means, such as negative emissions technologies.

* Source: Stats Wales. Workplace employment by industry in Wales and Welsh NUTS2 areas. 2021. Figure does not include education, health and public administration.

Inform.

“Collaboration between industry, government  and communities is absolutely critical”

Wales’ industrial complex has already been working between 2016-2020 to meet the targets set out in Welsh Government’s Carbon Budget 1, as well as participating in UK Government funding calls to access investment that will develop new ideas, exploit new technology and adopt new business models that encourage a circular economy approach.

We have been an active partner in everything from the Climate Change Levy and Industrial Emission Reduction Support programme, to the Economic Action Plan and the Energy Efficiency Scheme - contributing a strong voice to the need for an industry-led decarbonisation group, a policy position on fossil fuel extraction, a best way forward for industrial heat recovery, a strategy for carbon capture utilisation and storage; and a Food & Drink Action Plan for sustainable growth.

That collective vision and spirit of collaboration has borne fruit through the establishment of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC).

SWIC

In February 2021, the South Wales Industrial Cluster was established - a partnership between industry, energy suppliers, infrastructure providers, academia, the legal sector, service providers and the public sector - with two projects totalling £40m funded through UK Government’s Research and Innovation’s Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge - to map out what is needed to support South Wales in becoming a net zero carbon region by 2050.

South Wales is the second largest industrial emitter in the UK, releasing the equivalent of 16m tonnes of carbon dioxide per year across industry and energy generation. The projects, led by CR Plus and Costain, entitled South Wales Industry – A Plan for Clean Growth, and the SWIC deployment project, will last for 36 months. Their aim: to boost industrial competitiveness, drive inward investment, create jobs for a low-carbon global economy and grow low-carbon export markets.

The Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge supports the delivery of the UK Government’s Clean Growth Grand Challenge and the Industrial Clusters Mission, which has set an ambition to establish the world’s first net zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040, with at least one low-carbon industrial cluster by 2030. The mission will help place the UK at the forefront of the global shift to clean growth, by driving the technologies, services, and markets to produce low carbon industrial products.

“Achieving net zero and at the same time reversing the decline of heavy industry to create a new economic prosperity for Wales.”

The heart of the SWIC project is aimed at achieving net zero and at the same time, reversing the decline of heavy industry and creating economic prosperity for South Wales - developing a plan to preserve the existing 113,000 manufacturing jobs and potentially creating thousands of new skilled jobs by 2050.

While this plan is dynamic and widereaching, SWIC appreciates there is no silver bullet for decarbonisation of industry - and will present numerous

green pathways to help ensure the wellbeing of future generations.

With its partners, businesses and organisations stretching from Pembrokeshire to Monmouthshire, SWIC is developing holistic industrial site options and creating a solid and achievable plan to decarbonise industry. It’s doing this through energy efficiency, fuel switching and the creation of local energy hubs, to help ensure South Wales industry as a whole achieves net zero by 2050.

Dr Chris Williams, who heads up SWIC for Industry Wales, describes the cluster’s work as “an aspirational vision-setting project that includes the development of a step-by-step roadmap for the decarbonisation of our industries, and the infrastructure required to achieve net zero.”

“It’s a lot to take on, but what is clear is that doing nothing in South Wales is no longer an option. We have to be developing a net zero vision and plan. By not developing a South Wales plan we risk losing our industries to other areas that are.

“We therefore need to move to the forefront of decarbonisation activities, utilise our excellent universities and  create exciting new industries, as well as revitalising and sustaining our existing industrial base.

“We have to use this project to pull together ‘net zero team Wales’, working with academia and all levels of government to ensure we develop the best plan possible.”

Industry in Wales is about to decarbonise - enabling a green revolution that can and must transform our economy and society.

Optimising the capture and use of industrial CO₂  emissions

When the Committee on Climate Change reported that Wales will be unable to achieve the legislated emissions reduction of at least 80% by 2050 without a significant contribution from carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), it also acknowledged that potential CO2 storage sites are not conveniently situated for sequestration of South Wales’ emissions.

Port Talbot Steelworks at sunrise

Inform.

But CCUS deployment in the 2030s is achievable - saving 5-6Mt of Welsh emissions and achieving a 58% abatement by 2050 - through offshore opportunities using depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay. This creates the opportunity for storing and utilising CO2 emissions from North Wales, as well as opening up the possibility of transporting South Wales’ industrial emissions of CO2 by ship.

This worse-case scenario reflects what some see as a Welsh elephant in the CCUS room: the fact that there are currently no identified CCUS sites close to South Wales, where most of the large Welsh emission sources are situated. This may change. Many draw comfort from the maths that shows it is likely to be still advantageous economically for South Walian CO2 to be shipped to distant CCUS sites.

“CCUS

deployment can save 5-6Mt of emissions in Wales by 2050”

The Welsh Government is working hard to identify the feasibility of a broader CCUS network in Wales - a network that can complement other initiatives such as the industry-led consortia South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) and the FLEXIS research consortium, both of which are focused on increasing energy efficiency, reduction of waste and other methods of industrial decarbonisation.

Finding the ideal formula for CCUS in south Wales would pay huge dividends, with South Wales responsible for perhaps 16 MtCO2e of the 23 MtCO2e per year emitted by Wales, making it suitable for large-scale emissions reduction through a CCUS network. Emissions in the south of Wales

come from iron and steel production, power generation, oil refining, cement, chemicals, paper and pulp, nickel refining and general manufacturing operations. All those industries have the potential for emissions reduction through CCUS.

In North Wales, the HyNet North West programme is one of just two highly significant carbon capture, usage and storage schemes to be selected by the UK Government for fast track development.

The HyNet consortium which targets north west England and north east Wales has plans to transform industry across Wrexham and Flintshire through the switch to clean hydrogen.

HyNet also has advanced plans for CCUS, taking the CO2 emissions and storing them in the depleted gas reservoirs in Liverpool Bay. Partners in Wales already onboard the HyNet programme include Kellogg’s at Wrexham and Essity at Oakenholt in Flintshire. The HyNet project could

begin decarbonising north east Wales from as early as 2025.

The scale of the opportunity for carbon capture and utilisation in Wales is evolving and will depend on how large a market can be developed. The need is unquestionable, with point-source emissions from electricity generation and industry in Wales sat at around 55% compared to about 40% for the UK as a whole.

Wales has long shown that this type of challenge represents an opportunity, and it will be fascinating to see how the Welsh CCUS landscape evolves in the next decade, not least as captured CO2 has alternative uses, including chemical and feedstock production.

SWIC industries are currently supporting CCUS research through the FLEXIS and RICE projects, and the drive to decarbonise industry in Wales will clearly explore every opportunity to fully optimise the capture, storage and utilisation of carbon.

Putting South Wales at the heart of the nation’s decarbonising journey

South Wales has a long and rich industrial heritage which lead the way in the Industrial Revolution, not just for the UK, but the world. Today South Wales has the chance to be a leader of the Green Revolution. To help achieve this bold ambition, a dynamic collaboration between industries, power providers, the public sector and academic institutions, has been created.

SWIC (the South Wales Industrial Cluster) has been established to boost the competitiveness of South Wales as a key industrial region and drive inward investment, creating and protecting jobs for a low-carbon global economy and growing low-carbon export markets.

South Wales is the second largest industrial emitter in the UK, releasing the equivalent of 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year across industry

and energy generation. In 2019, the UK became one of the first countries in the world to legislate that it will reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. If the UK is to hit this target, we need new ways of heating homes, powering businesses and heavy industry and fuelling transport. This requires reducing emissions using methods such as: energy efficiency, fuel switching and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).

Wales needs to be developing the infrastructure industry needs to manufacture its products and commodities in a net zero way. If Welsh industry does not, its competitors will.

SWIC is an enabler - of dynamic collaborations that will help grow the vital infrastructure South Wales’ industries need to operate effectively

in the low-carbon economy, and to transition to that economy. SWIC is about sharing and networkingadvancing the use of new technologies and methodologies, and assisting companies not only to transition to the green economy, but realise its huge opportunities for commercial growth.

Every business will tread its own path to on the road to decarbonisation, but there will be shared challenges that need shared solutions. Through collaboration - with infrastructure developers, renewable energy providers, and green investors - SWIC is committed to helpingindustries map their way forward to net zero.

SWIC is working on core tasks to help South Wales’ industries meet the UK Government and Welsh Government’s net zero target by 2050.

Newport Transporter Bridge, Newport, South Wales, Wales. assets.wales.com

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Steps to decarbonisation

SWIC invites companies to engage with us on:

Energy and Resource efficiency

This focus is on making our companies as resource and energy efficient as possible. Government funding from Wales and the UK is available to support businesses in this area and SWIC can assist any South Wales business to access these funds.

Fuel Switching

Options exist for companies to expand their electrification and change to hydrogen or or bio fuels. Which option is best will depend on energy supply, infrastructure and cost.

Clean Growth Hubs

Circular Economy developments are key. SWIC will assist companies to focus on using unused resources to attract inward investment e.g. using waste heat for green houses or district heating schemes. Small regional hubs of industries can benefit from each other’s unused resources, growing energy efficiency and commercial opportunities.

Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU)

When you have made your industry as green as you can but that industry will still emit CO2 then we will explore options to turn that CO2 into chemical feedstocks. SWIC’s partners include companies like Lanzatech who transform CO2 into ethanol, and then turn that enthonal ino chemical feedsocks and sustainable aviation fuels.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

When we can’t utilise our CO2 then we will have to explore shipping our CO2 to the Northern UK CO2 storage capability. Developing CO2 shipping capability is an opportunity for South Wales ports.

Infrastructure

Our gas and electricity grids need the capacity to supply our industries with the electricity and hydrogen then need as they switch from natural gas. By industry working with network providers then both parties understand each other’s options and limitations.

Low Carbon Energy provision

As industry moves away from natural gas it will need huge amounts of hydrogen and low carbon power. By industry working with energy suppliers, both parties understand the quantities that they will need to supply.

The Economics

Energy pricing policies are key to each industry choosing its optimum solution to helping achieve net zero. New policies and pricing mechanisms are being developed by UK Government for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage, and hydrogen.

Academia

Many new technologies to support net zero for industries are near commercial availability, and academic support if needed to develop and optimise

their commercial application. A core foundation of academic and research support is essential for effective application for south Wales industries.

Skills

As industries explore and transition to their net zero route, upskilling is needed. SWIC provides the ability for shared skills development planning.

Industries in South Wales makes the major contribution to the total £12bn GVA for Wales created by industry. By focusing on the tasks outlined, SWIC is working to ensure that South Wales’ industry will have the greatest opportunity to grow and flourish on their journey to net zero.

Circular Economy

Developing and innovating our way through the transition from a mostly linear economy to a complete circular economy will bring transformative benefits for all and offers huge potential for Welsh business’ to lead the way.

HyNet: a CCS and hydrogen game changer for north east Wales

HyNet is an innovative low carbon and hydrogen energy project that plans to unlock a low carbon economy for North Wales and North West England, and put the cross-border industrial region at the forefront of the UK’s drive to net zero.

The HyNet North West consortiumwhich includes Hanson Cement, the single largest industrial emitter in north Wales - is set to decarbonise Hanson’s Padeswood Works operations near Mold, and transform industry across Wrexham and Flintshire through switching to hydrogen. Other Walesbased partners on board the programme include Kellogs at Wrexham, and Essity, the leading hygiene and health company, at Oakenholt in Flintshire.

From 2025, HyNet will produce, store and distribute hydrogen as well as capture and store carbon from industry, using state-of-the-art technology to build new infrastructure, whilst upgrading existing infrastructure currently involved in fossil fuel production.

The project has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 10 million tonnes every year by 2030 – the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road.

In October 2021, the UK Government announced HyNet had been selected to progress within Track 1 of the industrial decarbonisation Cluster Sequencing

process, making it one of the first UK industrial clusters to apply carbon capture and storage (CCS) to materially reduce carbon emissions in the UK.

The Cluster Sequencing process will allow HyNet’s partner companies to build on momentum gained in recent months, enabling them to further invest to substantially reduce carbon emissions.

HyNet’s development scenario for industrial decarbonisation includes hydrogen production and distribution to industry for fuel switching. This to be achieved through the creation of a regional hydrogen market within a dedicated supply network. It will also incorporate the direct capture of emissions from industries where fuel switching is not an option.

Through its affiliate Liverpool Bay CCS, HyNet will develop and operate both the onshore and offshore transportation and storage of CO2, providing a service for emitters to transport and permanently store CO2 offshore in depleted Liverpool Bay gas fields.

John Egan of Progressive Energy, who are leading the HyNet consortium, is Project Director for HyNet hydrogen production. He told Green Industries Wales:

“HyNet is about getting on and tackling the emissions that are causing the climate crisis. HyNet is about doing it for real. It's not a trial, and it’s about doing it at scale and quickly.

“As a collection of world-leading organisations coming together, our hydrogen network will produce, store and distribute hydrogen.

“The border doesn't matter to us. It's an economic zone with huge numbers of people and businesses travelling backwards and forwards through it.

Diagram showing the HyNet network integrating hydrogen supply and carbon capture and storage.

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Beyond 2030 the plan is for our hydrogen network to extend further across North Wales and into mid-Wales.”

Egan describes the project as a “a oncein-a-generation opportunity to effect real change in energy production and consumption.

“What we have seen is that industry is passionate to do this, and that is driven by what their customers are demanding: low carbon products. But it’s also about cost. Emitting CO2 is very expensive, so that’s a strong driver for industries.

“For the majority of industry, their emissions mostly come from burning natural gas, basically the same as we all do at home, but essentially on a bigger scale. They're using natural gas and they're sending CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.”

“Rather than saying, ‘Oh my goodness, climate change is a huge problem for our business’, they’re saying ‘We’ve got an opportunity here.’ ”

“ The scale of the problem we're trying to solve is huge. So it’s about having complementary solutions, not competitive solutions.”

HyNet is working with many stakeholders to develop the project, not least local government, and has strong support from regional leaders and business groups, including Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has called the project “a fantastic opportunity.”

“There’s a high demand for low-carbon hydrogen from businesses across the region…we have big ambitions to hit net zero from 2038. To do this we need the government to support HyNet, levelling up from north to south, east to west.”

Meanwhile, Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham Borough Council and Chair of the Mersey Dee Alliance, (the industry consortium for north east Wales, west Cheshire and Wirral), which is part of the HyNet alliance, said:

“Wales has ambitious targets to reach net zero. HyNet is critical to meeting, and even surpassing, Wales’ hydrogen ambitions, whilst safeguarding, and creating the high value manufacturing jobs this region is recognised for.”

“Early investment in HyNet is not only critical for future prosperity by maintaining production whilst achieving net zero, in the Welsh context, it is critical to strengthening the Union of the UK nations by bringing HyNet infrastructure into Wales as soon as possible.”

Left: The Point of Ayr gas terminal in North Wales. Owned and operated by Eni UK, it will be repurposed as part of the HyNet project.

Right: A gas platform in Liverpool Bay that will be used to store CO2 in the depleted Hamilton gas field.

A proud and long history of energy development in Wales

RWE has a proud and long history of energy development in Wales and as one of largest power producers is committed to continuing this investment: with an ambitious development pipeline, including 4 onshore and 1 offshore wind projects.

RWE is an international energy company with ambitious global renewables development targets and a clear goal to be carbon neutral by 2040. The UK is a key market for the company that already has a very strong position in Wales: operating around 3GW of energy generation across 12 sites. To put that into context that is enough to power the whole country!

Energy diversity is key and will be a very important factor to support Wales’ ambitions of achieving net zero. RWE has a diverse portfolio of onshore and

offshore wind, hydro and gas, directly employing around 200 people (plus many more indirectly) at our dedicated offices in Baglan, Llanidloes, Dolgarrog, and Port of Mostyn as well as onsite at our power stations.

Over the last decade, RWE and partners have invested well over £3bn to deliver projects in Wales. Our major investments include 2.2GW Pembroke Power Station, Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm, and onshore wind projects at Brechfa Forest West, Clocaenog Forest and Mynydd y Gwair.

As one of the cleanest forms of energy generation, offshore wind has a central role to play in reducing carbon emissions and meeting the UK’s climate target to be net zero by 2050. Large scale projects will be critical if we are to achieve these ambitious government targets and our Awel y Môr (the Gwynt y Môr extension) is scheduled to be the largest single renewable energy investment in Wales in the next decade.

In the future new technologies will be developed to support the broader decarbonisation of industry and here

RWE is one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, and the #1 renewable generator in Wales

including the UK’s first large-scale offshore wind farm North Hoyle**

Largest electricity generator with involvement in almost 1GW of renewable energy, we are at the forefront to a low carbon future.

Over the last decade, together with our partners, RWE has invested over £3 billion to deliver projects in Wales.

An ambitious pipeline with 4 onshore and 1 offshore wind farms in development. **Operated but not owned by RWE (60MW) *RWE pro rata share 2,652 MW including 50% share of Gwynt y Môr (576MW) and 50% share of Rhyl Flats (90MW)

RWE can play a key role. As a proud and supportive member of South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) we are working with local partners on solutions to develop hydrogen infrastructure and support the decarbonisation of Welsh industry.

RWE has chosen the Pembroke Power Station site to develop a decarbonisation hub known as the Pembroke Net Zero Centre (PNZC.) It links-up innovative technologies needed to deliver a low carbon future, including decarbonisation of Pembroke Power Station, with feasibility studies on Carbon Capture and Storage and Hydrogen; Green Hydrogen production. It also includes feasibility studies into

the development of a 100-250MW ‘pathfinder’ electrolyser project, and Floating Offshore Wind development in the Celtic Sea.

RWE recognises the importance of the local communities in which it operates and has always strived to support local jobs and important community initiatives. To date, projects operated by RWE has contributed over £8.6m to neighbouring communities from funds associated with our renewable energy sites in Wales. Annually, community funding in Wales alone amounts to over £2.4m with all decisions on how the funds are allocated made by local people.

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Supporting high-skilled jobs for the country is essential for a just net zero transition and RWE has implemented meaningful training opportunities. In partnership with Coleg Llandrillo Menai, RWE established an award-winning turbine apprenticeship programme at the facility that is now home to our National Training Hub.

With a strong investment pipeline, RWE hopes to maintain our position as one of the largest investors in Wales, directly employing and training a skilled workforce across a variety of technologies, as well as many more indirectly across the supply chain.

Re-imagining manufacturing in the green economy

Manufacturing as a sector is more important to Wales than to any other single part of the UK. Its sub-sectors, including automotive, aviation, chemical, construction, engineering, agriculture and food, steel, technology and transport, are the lifeblood of the Welsh economy.

How these industries produce their commodities is undergoing profound change - a transformation being driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU transition, and fundamentally, by meeting the demands of decarbonisation.

As demand for high-carbon goods and services is constrained, businesses will need to react to the new market: consumers (individuals and businesses) increasingly demanding low carbon products and components in order to meet their own carbon ambitions. And how Wales’ manufacturers respond to the behavioural change of buyers

and meet the needs of motivated green consumers will be increasingly important for commercial success.

Vital for manufacturing will be to embrace the circular economy - an economy that keeps products and materials in productive use for as long as possible.

After decades of reliance on the ephemeral, instantly replaceable, a focus on designing for longevity and repair is needed. This revolution in consumer behaviour may be the most dramatic effect of society’s reaction to the climate emergency.

Government is playing its part. The Welsh Government’s Manufacturing Action Plan aims to help “future proof” manufacturing by encouraging a diverse base of outward-looking firms, “with positive innovation performance, good productivity levels and a workforce equipped with the skills for a changing world.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the value of exports from Wales, but the Welsh Government is keen to support Wales’ exporters in re-establishing and expanding their supply chains and markets.

The change of culture required in manufacturing is immense, but manufacturers are already on board. Research by MAKE UK (The Manufacturers Association) suggests that awareness of the 2050 net-zero target is high, with 90% of manufacturers across the UK aware of it. But less than half see it as an opportunity.

Despite this, the research shows manufacturers are investing in energy efficiency measures and seeing benefits from doing so. 30% have made energy efficiency investments in the last 12 months, mostly in relation to buildings, equipment and manufacturing processes. 40% report increased profit margins and 30% report increased competitiveness as a result.

Manufactturing clusters, working towards shared goals, are vital in the new ecosystem required to deliver net zero. And the pioneering consortiums have already begun the journey,

In North Wales, the HyNet programme is one of just two carbon capture, usage and storage schemes to be selected by the UK Government for fast track development.

HyNet will produce hydrogen to replace fuels in transport, industry and homes while also capturing and storing carbon dioxide produced by energy-intensive industries.

The HyNet consortium - which includes Hanson Cement, the single largest industrial emitter in North Wales - is set to decarbonise Hanson’s Padeswood Works operations near Mold, and transform industry across Wrexham and Flintshire through switching to clean hydrogen. Other partners already onboard the HyNet programme are Kellogs at Wrexham and Essity at Oakenholt in Flintshire.

The HyNet project could begin to see decarbonising north east Wales from as early as 2025, reducing annual CO₂ emissions by 10m tonnes by 2030.

The South Wales industrial Cluster (SWIC) in the South is a collaboration between south Wales industry, energy suppliers, infrastructure providers, academia, legal sector, service providers and public sector organisations, stretching from Pembrokeshire in the west to Monmouthshire in the east, which collectively employs more than 100,000 people.

These companies and organisations have joined forces to support South Wales in becoming a net zero region by 2050. South Wales is the second largest industrial emitter in the UK, releasing the equivalent of 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year across industry and energy generation.

Each industry faces its own options to decarbonise,

but they

are dependent on infrastructure being established and available.

SWIC’s ambitions include developing its five steps to decarbonisation, including energy and resource efficiency, fuel switching, smart networks (symbiosis), Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU), and Carbon Capture Storage (CCS).

Infrastructure and low carbon energy supplies are essential for those five steps to take place. Collaboration is therefore imperative.The developing SWIC network has been awarded funding of over £40m (approximately 50% from UK Government and 50% from industry) for projects, namely its Cluster Plan and Deployment Plan, to

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plot, scope and establish in detail what is needed in South Wales to achieve industrial decarbonisation by 2050.

Ports have always been potent manufacturing sites in Wales, offering transport connections alongside proximity to markets and labour. As Associated British Ports have pointed out in their vision for Barry, Cardiff, Newport, Port Talbot and Swansea, announced in October 2021, these advantages will be amplified further as carbon pricing is implemented. ABP’s bold mission to transform their ports to meet the needs of Wales’ decarbonised economy offers Wales traditional manufacturing base, and a new generation of manufacturers, many opportunities, not least in Port Talbot and in relation to the Tata steelworks.

The Port of Milford Haven, with its Pembroke Dock Marine – Wales' Clean Energy Centre, has a vision that will play a vital national role in driving new green growth in hydrogen, floating offshore wind (FLOW) and marine energy generation, offering significant regeneration benefits, and levelling up this coastal region through the creation of fresh high-quality employment and careers for future generations. The successful delivery of this vision will be just as important for the UK, particularly for UK energy security as fossil fuels are phased out, as it will be for Pembrokeshire and Wales.

The things we make, and how we make them is changing. The way we transport them is changing. The way we conceive them is changing. The challenges and opportunities for manufacturing in Wales are many on the journey to decarbonisation. It will need imagination and bold ambition to succeed; it will need the ability to think outside the box, and pursue new collaborations to ensure sustainability, increased market share and profitability.

Leading the switch to net zero industry: New £20m facility launched to help deliver Wales' green economy

South Wales is set to build on its strength and expertise in steel and metals innovation with the launch of a new £20 million facility to help industry in the region create a lowcarbon future.

Led by Neath Port Talbot Council and key partner Swansea University, the new facility will see academic researchers, government and industry collaborating to deliver practical innovative solutions to decarbonise the steel and metals sector and supply chain.

Switching successfully to a net-zero future is essential for the manufacturing sector. It will not only protect the environment, but also develop the industries and workforce that are so vital to the south Wales economy. The facility offers enormous potential for innovation to strengthen regional decarbonisation activity alongside new business, investment and job opportunities for a future green economy.

The facility is called SWITCH: South Wales Industrial Transition from Carbon

Hub. It forms part of the Supporting Innovation and Low Carbon Growth programme, led by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal. The programme will help establish the region as a leader in low carbon growth and the green economy.

Located close to Port Talbot steel works and train station, SWITCH will be an open access facility. It will provide a purpose-built site and equipment for Swansea University to work with the steel and metals industry to:

• Develop steel and metal manufacturing processes to reduce carbon emissions

• Enable the recovery and recycling of materials and by-products in manufacturing

• Create advanced materials for construction, transport and packaging sectors to support net zero solutions for society.

Swansea University has closely collaborated with industry since its foundation. The steel and metals industry remains at the heart of the South Wales community.

By supporting the industrial transition to net-zero carbon, SWITCH will play a vital role in inclusive economic growth, enabling Welsh industry to remain globally competitive and securing a long-term, sustainable future for the region.

Active offfice and classroom built by SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre, a consortium led by Swansea University. A key partner in the consortium is Tata Steel, who developed special steel cladding that draws in air for heating.

Chris Williams, Head of Industrial Decarbonisation for Industry Wales, who leads the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), said:

“South Wales is built on steel and metals. We have the people, expertise and close collaborative relationships to lead the way to a net-zero carbon future for manufacturing industries across the globe.

Industry has a vital role to play in a more sustainable future. In Wales we have established a strong collaborative approach to innovation. The SWITCH hub will build on this approach, bringing together expertise from industry, academia, and government to provide practical solutions for decarbonisation.

The SWITCH hub will further boost our environmental drive here in Wales, by developing sustainable, competitive ways of manufacturing."

Cllr Edward Latham, Neath Port Talbot Council Leader, said:

“The SWITCH project will support the transformation and decarbonisation of our important steel and metals industry, and associated supply chain. It complements Neath Port Talbot Council’s Decarbonisation and Renewable Energy Strategy (DARE)."

Professor Paul Boyle, Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University, said:

“For Swansea University, successful regional partnerships are as much about supporting the development of people and skills as they are about innovative research. The SWITCH initiative will build upon our 100-year

history of purposeful collaboration with industry, to address the challenges of our time and deliver real innovation in Wales.

This new SWITCH hub will further expand our University’s research capabilities to work alongside industry and government, in support of our shared ambition for a net-zero Wales.”

Swansea University’s research has created a new loading model for a Port Talbot furnace improving its efficiency and saving £1.1m a year in energy and raw materlals. Image: Marc Holmes/Steve Brown.

Researchers in Swansea University's College of Engineering are using high-tech imaging equipment to analyse new forms of steel. All images courtesy Swansea University.

Batri: Energy storage that doesn’t cost the earth

Written by Joanna Pontin

As part of the new wave of developments in the clean energy sector, Batri is leading the way in battery energy storage system (BESS) technology in the UK, offering sodium and lithium energy systems.

The Batri BESS are modular solutions ideal for renewable energy generation applications of all types. The energy storage units are available in various sizes ranging from standalone cabinets for small installations, to container size for more extensive storage requirements, and large unit arrays for grid buffering and highdemand grid support.

In addition to cabinet and containerbased formats, Batri Energy Storage technology is available in systems specially designed to operate in extreme environments. The robust, highly recyclable, and cost-effective energy storage formats directly address the growing need for solutions to provide stability in energy provision.

Joanna Pontin Vice President of Marketing, Batri.com

“At a time when much clean energy produced by Onshore Wind in the UK is lost due to a lack of storage capacity, Batri is a vital addition to the UK’s green energy infrastructure needs - enabling the matching of clean energy power supply with demand.”

Applications

Batri offers a custom line of solar roofs and carports designed to utilise existing parking areas and buildings, generating power without sacrificing valuable real estate.

GrowAny

Batri energy storage is utilised in GrowAny container farms - a controlled environment, providing accelerated growth cycles, increased yields, pest and disease control, and app-controlled growth dates. The energy storage and automated technology enable reliable food production even in extreme environments.

Batri is central to the Blue Eden project planned for Swansea, UK. The planned factory in the South Wales development will produce 6.7 GWh per year for the global market and is forecast to create over 1,000 new jobs.

The Blue Eden project also includes one of the largest battery storage facilities ever planned. The Batri energy farm will store up to 1,200 MWh of renewable energy generated on-site.

Additional manufacturing facilities will begin production in early 2022 in West Virginia, USA, along with a pilot line and training facility planned for Pencoed, Wales, opening in 2024.

Decarbonising Industry

South Wales

South Wales Industrial Cluster

Developing a world leading truly sustainable industry  befitting the societal needs of 2030, 2040, 2050 and beyond...

Circular Economy Innovations

Energy Efficiency

Carbon Dioxide Avoidance The Hydrogen Economy

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a new vision for our maritime hubs

The opportunities for ports

Welsh ports are in the frontline of Wales’ transition to a green economy, aiding the decarbonisation of the maritime sector and supporting new developments in marine energy generation.

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With far-reaching initiatives already underway and proposed - by Associated British Ports (ABP) in South Wales, by the Port of Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, and Holyhead in Anglesey, Wales is well-positioned to take advantage of the renewables revolution.

ABP

Associated British Ports operates five ports in the south - Newport, Cardiff, Barry, Port Talbot and Swansea. In October 2021, ABP published Future Ports: Wales Vision outlining its plans to reimagine its ports’ infrastructure and operations to help deliver net zero and decarbonise Wales’ marine economy.

Newport

The most easterly of ABP's South Wales ports, Newport has excellent links to the nearby M4 and direct rail connections. The port occupies a prime location to service the UK's main industrial and commercial regions. ABP has invested significantly in Newport including warehousing facilities, open storage areas, and additional rail sidings. The Port of Newport is a steel, metals, recycling, and renewable energy hub and has over 8ha of open storage for port energy-related cargoes.

Cardiff

Directly connected to the rail network and within easy reach of the M4

motorway, the Port of Cardiff has expertise in the handling of containers, steel, forest products, and dry and liquid bulks. ABP has invested significantly in the port in recent years, modernising infrastructure and supplying customers with specialist storage solutions and handling equipment. Cardiff boasts 5,300 sq m of chilled, ambient, and frozen warehousing space with computerised stock-control and state-of-the-art dockside, storage, and handling for fresh produce and perishables.

Barry

The Port of Barry is a key facility for the region's chemical industry, handling liquid bulks for major companies including Dow Silicones. Barry has expertise in the handling of steel, scrap metal, containers, dry bulks, coal, and aggregates. Barry regularly handles Scandinavian and Baltic timber, steel cargoes, coal, cement, and aggregates as well as specialist liquid bulks to serve the UK’s chemical industry. The port also includes the 15ha Barry Solar Array,

generating clean energy for ABP, its port tenants’ and the National Grid.

Port Talbot

With its deep waters, Port Talbot is predominantly used for Tata Steel imports - of coking coal, minerals and ores. Port Talbot has plans to change radically: to position itself as a vital location to take advantage of offshore wind development, with potential for a new purpose-built deep-water facility capable of serving UK and worldwide markets. Port Talbot has the capacity to deliver the scale of growth needed. Port Talbot has the deep water, brownfield development land, rail connections, proximity to steel, marine aggregates and access to thousands of skilled workers.

Swansea

Swansea, the most westerly of ABP’s South Wales ports, has the capacity to handle vessels of up to 30,000dwt. The port has significant development opportunities available for the design and construction of bespoke business space. Together with Port Talbot, the Port of Swansea contributes £670m per year to the regional economy and supports almost 10,000 jobs. The port has a track record in handling wind turbines and specialist energy components.

Milford Haven

The transformation of the Milford Haven Waterway, Wales’ largest deepwater port, is set to position West Wales as a model of renewable energy and decarbonisation innovation, delivering major benefits to Wales’ and the UK’s carbon reduction plans.

Swansea docks looking east towards Port Talbot. Photo: Leighton Collins

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The Port of Milford Haven is the largest energy port in the UK, supplying a fifth of the UK’s energy needs. Core to the UK’s existing energy network, the Port supports thousands of jobs in the maritime, renewables and engineering sectors. Through the creation of a clean energy cluster and particularly the development of hydrogen, the Port is set to play an even more crucial role in the UK’s energy infrastructure.

Change is already underway with the Port of Milford Haven’s Pembroke Dock Marine (PDM) project - an integral part of the £1.3 billion Swansea City Bay Deal programme – which aims to drive industrial innovation and operational efficiency. Central to PDM is the cluster of companies that are driving it with the Port: ORE Catapult, Marine Energy Wales and Celtic Sea Power. PDM is the first stage in the Port of Milford Haven’s plans to unlock future investmentspecifically the £682 million attached to the Celtic Sea Floating Wind opportunity.

Plans to decarbonise and add more green energy to the landscape are bolstered by renewable energy specialists Blue Gem Wind and Bombora, and by big players in the energy sector; Valero, Dragon LNG and RWE.

Holyhead

Holyhead stands poised to play a key role in the development of marine energy in north Wales, and its port, operated by Stena Lines, is well positioned to take advantage of the benefits that will accrue.

Holyhead Deep marks the starting point of the industrialisation of Swedish company Minesto’s unique marine energy technology Deep Green - the first low-velocity tidal energy project in the world. Sited in the southern corner of Holyhead Deep, 8km from Holyhead, the area has been carefully selected to maintain separation from shipping

lanes and to minimise the impact on other sea users.

Minesto's long-term plan is to expand the site into a commercial tidal energy array with a total installed capacity of up to 80MW. Minesto intends to develop the site in phases as part of a deployand-monitor approach. Once installed, a 10MW Deep Green array will supply safe and clean electricity to the equivalent of more than 8,000 Welsh households. The planned increase of the site to 80MW installed capacity would increase that figure to almost 70,000 households. The establishment of Minesto’s UK head offices in Holyhead has seen 17 full-time jobs created to date and the Holyhead Deep project is already stimulating business both in and outside the direct supply chain.

Morlais

Morlais is a tidal stream project being developed by Holyhead-based social enterprise organisition Menter Môn.

LNG carrier at the Port of Milford Haven.

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The Morlais project manages a 35 km2 area of seabed off the west coast of Holy Island, with the project’s first stage focussed on securing consent, with community a key part of this process. The consent application was submitted in the autumn of 2019 and a decision is expected by the Welsh Government before the end of 2021. Subject to approval, the second stage will put inplace the necessary infrastructure in place for developers of tidal stream energy converters to deploy their technology in the zone. The four-phase project is planned to deliver initial supply of 12MW rising to 240MW.

Hydrogen hub

Menter Môn is also working to establish a green hydrogen hub in Holyhead under local ownership. The scheme, which complements the Anglesey Energy Island Program established by Isle of Anglesey County Council, is supported by the Welsh Government and by by the UK Government’s Transport Fund, which has awarded £4.8m to the project. Menter Môn is engaging with stakeholders across the region to attract international interest to the project from the high-growth hydrogen sector.

The initial hub aims to be the platform for scale-up to the large potential transport demand from HGVs and shipping at the port. It will also enable diversification into new markets such as hydrogen for heating and industry.

STENA LINE

In 2020 Stena Line, which operates the ports of Holyhead and Fisguard for their passenger and freight services to Dublin and Rosslare respectively, made a major investment with the addition of the Stena Estrid ferry for their Holyhead – Dublin service. One of Stena Line’s new generation of E-Flexer vessels, Stena Estrid is 30% more fuel-efficient than the company’s traditional vessels.

In 2020, a new limit on the sulphur content in the fuel oil used on board shipping in the Irish Sea came into force, marking a significant milestone to improve air quality, preserve the environment and protect human health. Known as ‘IMO 2020’ the resulting reduction in sulphur oxide emissions from ships is delivering major health and environmental benefits, particularly for populations living close to ports and coasts.

In 2020, Stena Lines’ total CO₂ emissions from ships decreased by 12%, 2.3 % per nautical mile. The company plans to start operating its first fossil-free battery powered ferries on the route between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn in Denmark no later than 2030, and is developing plans for battery powered vessels on other short routes. The company has committed to reducing its total CO₂ emissions by 30% by 2030.

"Wales is wellpositioned to take advantage of the renewables revolution."

A wind turbine installation vessel at Holyhead.

The Stena Estrid ferry operates the Holyhead-Dublin route.

Together Stronger

Collaboration and sustainability are at

the heart of Pembrokeshire’s energy future

The Port of Milford Haven is the UK’s largest energy port and a core component of the UK’s energy network, supplying a fifth of the UK’s oil and gas needs. High capacity oil and gas pipelines and electricity connections transport energy from the Milford Haven Waterway to every part of the UK.

Over the past 60 years the Port of Milford Haven has managed the emergence of two energy revolutions - oil in the 1960s,

and Liquefied Natural Gas from the late 2000s. The area’s unique maritime and energy infrastructure, together with the presence of brownfield sites, has attracted billions of pounds of investment in recent decades and that is why today’s energy grouping using the Milford Haven Waterway – including Valero, South Hook LNG, Dragon LNG, Puma Energy and RWE – exists, supporting more than 5,000 Welsh jobs and providing £400m of Gross Value Added worth to the region.

And the next chapter of Pembrokeshire’s rich maritime and energy story is being written as it takes a central role in the journey to net zero. Today it is at the forefront of a third revolution –renewable energy. Plans to transform the energy mix along the Milford Haven Waterway, one of the world’s deepest natural harbours, will deliver major benefits to Wales’ and the UK’s carbon reduction plans and help position Wales as a leader in renewable energy innovation.

The industrial cluster around the Milford Haven Waterway is ready to support the global challenge to reach net zero.

Energy Generation & Distribution

To achieve the 2050 net zero targets set by the UK and Welsh governments, renewable electricity generation must treble (from 120TWh to 360TWh), and the use of renewable gases such as hydrogen must expand exponentially (from less than 1TW today to potentially 50TW). A sea change in energy storage is needed, along with bold new systems for CO₂ capture and storage.

The most pressing focus is to unlock the full potential of the marine energy and floating wind industries in the Celtic Sea.

It is an opportunity that Wales must be quick to grasp. The UK is already a world leader in offshore wind with a target of 40GWh deployed by 2030. To deliver this, the development of the Celtic Sea will intensify, with an initial target of 1GW for floating offshore wind (FLOW) by 2035. To realise this opportunity for Wales, stakeholders and government must act decisively and swiftly as international competition is strong.

Pembrokeshire is ready to make a unique and potent contribution to the task ahead and its ability to deliver for Wales is convincing: close proximity to the Celtic Sea FLOW sites, a deep-water port, existing, high capacity oil and gas pipelines and electricity connections, extensive energy expertise plus the growing cluster of world-leading marine renewables companies calling the Haven their home, crucially enabling Celtic Sea operations to be supported and serviced.

Key to Wales winning the race to the opportunities the Celtic Sea offers, is enhanced port infrastructure. Some of this will be delivered by the £60m Pembroke Dock Marine project - an integral part of the £1.3bn Swansea

UK and Welsh Governments.

Pembroke Dock Marine is a collaboration between ORE Catapult, Marine Energy Wales, Celtic Sea Power and the Port of Milford Haven. It builds upon an already strong proposition to establish a world-class centre for marine energy and engineering on the Milford Haven Waterway. Its ambition is simple, to drive industrial innovation and operational efficiency.

This public/private sector collaboration has paved the way for Pembrokeshire and the rest of Wales to have a stake in the renewable energy market, but as the floating wind industry grows and its demands increase, more development is needed and so there is huge potential to build on this.

Parallel to the harvesting and distribution of clean energy, transitioning to a greener economy also brings a wealth of opportunities for job creation in

City Bay Deal programme signed off by the

Pembroke Port – where infrastructure upgrades will soon begin, creating a world-class marine energy and engineering base.

Blue Gem Wind is pushing forward with Wales’ first floating wind farm Erebus in the Celtic Sea. Photo: Principle Power/Artist DOCK90

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the region: Pembroke Dock Marine is expected to generate £73.5m a year for the regional economy and create more than 1,800 jobs over the next 15 years, and 1GW of FLOW is worth more than £680m in supply chain opportunities and 3,000 jobs over the next ten years.

The Port is allocating £50m over the next five years to support this growth and position itself at the forefront of the UK’s transition to green energy.

Related to the Celtic Sea opportunity, no single clean energy development is of more significance than the Milford Haven Waterway’s potential to lead in the production and distribution of green hydrogen - the potentially gamechanging fuel to help deliver net zero.

Groundbreaking green hydrogen projects are already establishing themselves on the Milford Haven Waterway and receiving international attention. MH:EK- the Milford Haven Energy Kingdom is taking the lead.

MH:EK is a £4.5m project exploring what a decarbonised smart local energy system could look like and the potential of zero carbon hydrogen alongside renewable electricity. Central to the project is a commitment to engage

with the local community and industry, providing insight and opportunities for economic growth.

The project is delivering a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study, laying the foundations for what could be the first of many Smart Local Energy Systems. Due to be completed in spring 2022, the project has begun demonstrating the practical application of hydrogen technology including a world-first hydrogen hybrid heating system, a green hydrogen electrolyser and refueller, and consumer trials of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with midWales pioneering green automotive company Riversimple.

Accelerated decarbonisation at scale

Recognising existing industry’s importance and symbiosis with emerging renewable developments is the key to ensuring UK energy resilience and a just transition towards a net zero future.

LNG is transported from Milford Haven to the rest of the UK via high capacity gas pipelines.

Pembrokeshire’s vision and commitment to play a dynamic role in delivering clean maritime growth, and be a vital part of the UK and Wales’clean energy revolution, is clear and bold. And it is a vision that is being realised.

Earlier this year RWE launched its Pembroke Net Zero Centre to maximise the potential of hydrogen, floating offshore wind and carbon capture to help decarbonise industry in Wales. It recognises Pembrokeshire’s unique credentials to become a SuperPlace for decarbonisation; its proximity to Floating Offshore Wind; land for development of large-scale electrolysers; electricity and gas grid connections and an existing gas-fired power station. As one of Europe’s biggest renewable energy players, this is a major endorsement for Pembrokeshire.

And other big players (including but not limited to Costain; Associated British Ports; Capital Law; CR Plus; Industry Wales; Lanza Tech; Lightsource BP; Progressive Energy; RWE; Shell; Siemens, SIMEC Atlantis Energy; the

Port of Milford Haven; Tata Steel; Tarmac; University of South Wales; Valero; Western Power Distribution and Wales & West Utilities) are working together as the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) to decarbonise industry and achieve net zero whilst creating and protecting jobs in a low carbon economy. For example, the existing energy terminals on the Milford Haven Waterway have the potential to play a significant role in the UK’s hydrogen economy, processing and generating hydrogen for UK and international supply.

The port’s ambition for sustainable growth is an ambition shared. The Port of Milford Haven’s plans are aligned with the UK Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener objectives announced in October 2021, the Welsh Government’s Plan for Wales and Marine Plan, the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and Pembrokeshire County Council’s Economic Recovery Plan.

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Collaboration is key. The road ahead is challenging, and as projects like Pembroke Dock Marine, MH:EK and SWIC are demonstrating, working together is critical to realise the opportunity ahead for the sake of future generations.

Valero Pembroke Refinery on the Milford Haven Waterway: Recognising existing industry’s importance and symbiosis with emerging renewable developments is key.

Inform. ABP sees a decarbonised and digitised future for its South Wales Ports

Associated British Ports’ (ABP) five ports in South Wales have a revolutionary history. The ports of Swansea, Port Talbot, Barry, Cardiff and Newport have long been trading ores, energy, cargo and ideas. They played a key role in the creation of the modern industrial world and looking ahead, will now need to play a pivotal role in Wales’ transition to low carbon economy.

ABP's Welsh ports have an equally revolutionary future; a future inextricably bound, to slow the rate of climate change and put in place the systems that can one day begin to revers it. The five ports will play a central part in the transition Wales must make towards a decarbonised and fully digitised economy over the next thirty years.

Aerial view of the Port of Port Talbot

ABP’s objective is to make sure that the future works for Wales. The organisation understands that the issues are complex and a different way of thinking is needed to succeed. ABP’s recently-published strategy Future Ports: Wales Vision describes a sea change in thinking. It recognises that the issues are not just port industry issues but form part of a broader societal challenge. A coherent response and delivery will need teamwork across stakeholders, academia, customers and communities.

During ABP’s Future Ports: Wales Vision launch Andrew Harston, Director ABP Wales and Short Sea Ports said: “The only way through the complexity is to imagine a changed world, understand its opportunities, and focus on the outcomes we need. We cannot make hard and fast predictions, but we can sketch the outlines of what needs doing.

We need a new approach to realise the huge potential of Wales’ strategic port locations; to build the foundations of a new cycle of innovation and prosperity and time is of the essence.”

To achieve a faster pace of change, ABP will work within the policy framework established by both Welsh and UK Government. The race is on as neighboring Spain, Portugal, Ireland and France have already identified some of the opportunities and are backing them with EU investment right now.

How ports can deliver Wales’ coming transformation

The next three decades will see dramatic structural changes in the Welsh economy as it decarbonises and digitises. The pace of this change is likely to accelerate: a growth loop will be created as technological innovation and

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scale economies drive cost reductions, which drive further scale economies. This change is expected to be rapid and wide scale; it will disrupt established ways of working, demanding new ones whilst also creating major opportunities for companies and stakeholders which are ready to make the changes necessary.

ABP connects Wales to the global economy and delivers on its commitment to Keep Britain Trading. This commitment remains but there are changes needed to deliver on this and ABP sees a dynamic and developing role for its South Wales ports in the future. Located next to two-thirds of Wales’ population, ABP’s ports are vital assets in helping Wales make the strategic realignments demanded by decarbonisation and digitisation. To do so and to prosper, ABP must learn to do new things and in new ways, and

The future vision for Port Talbot

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partner this capacity for innovation with an ability to design and implement change quickly.

Simon Brown, Divisional Port Manager for Wales & South West at ABP said:“We know that ports can’t make the changes alone. It will be necessary develop a shared vision based on new ways of working between business, government, academia and communities. Greater collaboration will make sure that we share risks, rewards, and intelligence, and deliver better outcomes for the economy, the environment and our societies.

“On this journey there will undoubtedly be difficult decisions to be made and challenges to overcome. But there’s also a tremendous prize on offer: a new appetite for innovation, a dramatically reduced carbon footprint, and thousands of highly skilled, globally competitive jobs for Wales.”

The missions for delivery

ABP’s plans can be described in four port-centric ‘missions’ which set out the innovations which will ensure its ports achieve their potential systemwide impact. ABP’s missions set out time-limited, outcome-focused tasks that could cut through organisational silos and reconfigure the relationship between public and private sector.

Ports cannot do everything alone but collaborative working will enable the ports to create skilled jobs, growing prosperity and a better quality of life, all in a secure climate.

Decarbonising energy generation

Wales needs to position itself for a technological revolution in the way that energy is created, distributed and used. This emerging marketplace creates a

transformational opportunity for Wales. ABP recognises the immense potential in creating world-class Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) capabilities and will actively pursue with its partners to shape growth in this area.

“ There is no doubt that we have to be bolder and go further, faster."

Simon Brown, Divisional Port Manager for Wales & South West at ABP said: "There is no doubt that we have to be bolder and go further, faster. We need to take the opportunity provided by FLOW for example. The Swansea Bay City Region undoubtedly has what’s needed to become a world-class hub for FLOW over the next 10 years.”

Likewise, ABP is committed to cocreating zero-carbon energy from tidal and on-port sources, and will work with government and stakeholders to develop plans for a network of tidal lagoons.

The emergence of FLOW in the Celtic Sea presents huge opportunities and government investment can create infectious momentum. ABP’s own experience at Green Port Hull, a partnership between government, ABP and Siemens, has shown how this can work.

Decarbonising manufacturing

Achieving net zero will demand fundamental changes in the way that South Wales’ manufacturing industry works. From the foundational industries of steel and chemicals, to upstream manufacturing sectors, South Wales’ ports will be indispensable in getting energy into manufacturing sites, emissions out to sequestration points, and providing space to grow. ABP is committed to co-create a decarbonised Port Talbot Steelworks with Tata and its

other industrial partners as a priority. ABP is also committed to developing new low-carbon manufacturing facilities and playing a vital role supporting largescale carbon capture.

Decarbonising the logistics industry

South Wales’ ports are likely to play a vital new role in local logistics. The efficiency gains which accompany the ‘internet of things’ will drive down logistics costs, and stimulate the demand-side further, creating accelerating growth in activity. The sooner this shift happens, the sooner we will get the productivity benefits and carbon savings that Wales needs.

The logistics industry is looking to innovate, and ABP’s ports have a unique offer. The emergence of zero-carbon freight villages on sites, driven by three strategic advantages - connectivity between transport modes, proximity to population centres, and the ability to decarbonise the ‘last mile’: high capacity energy connections, allowing hundreds of delivery vehicles to recharge, balanced by large capacity energy storage facilities that can respond to peaks in energy demand.

Creating growth environments for communities, businesses and ecosystems

ABP’s ports at Swansea, Cardiff and Barry have seen radical shifts over the past three decades: industrial areas have been reborn as successful new communities, using innovative relationships between ABP and government. Over coming years, the organisation will work with stakeholders to review whether there is scope for a new cycle of industrial, logistics and residential-led regeneration at South Wales’ ports, alongside creating new opportunities for biodiverse natural environments.

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Solar energy powers

ABP’s Port of Barry

In the coming years, ABP will also be considering the next cycle of change at its ports. Those changes would be about quality ‘place-making’ and the creation of new environments for communities to live and prosper. Port developments in Copenhagen, Rotterdam and Malmo would be design benchmarks. A new approach will need integration with urban growth plans plus public sector policy support, possibly including joint ventures and new delivery vehicles.

Target 2030

ABP believes that innovation will be central to growth but the innovation needed is not just about changes in technology and markets. Business

practices, mindsets, and the way the public and private sectors interact will be integral. ABP is planning big investments in Wales but cannot make them alone. Effective change can only be delivered within a supportive policy environment and close liaison with government at all levels.

By 2030, South Wales’ Ports will have translated their central role in the first industrial revolution, into being key enablers of the decarbonisation and digitisation revolutions. That transformational role will be the result of new relationships between South Wales’ ports, customers, investors, academia, and the public sector and based on the sharing of intelligence, risk and reward.

ABP has commited that by 2030, its ports will have helped put Wales on a new pathway to a dramatically reduced carbon footprint whilst creating thousands of high productivity, highskilled and globally competitive jobs.

More information on the Future Ports: Wales Vision visit: www.abports.co.uk/future-ports-walesvision/ If you would like to see how these concepts might be implemented at port level, take a look at: www.abports.co.uk/future-ports-porttalbot/

UK’S FIRST

FLOATING SOLAR PANELS

Incorporating the UK’s first tidal lagoon, the largest floating solar park in Europe, and the UK’s first data centre entirely powered by an uninterruptible renewable energy

agreement, a green-powered data centre, the Blue Eden leisure park and recreational spaces, floating architecture, and a 6.7GWh Batri Giga

along with a world-class oceanic and climate change research centre, green housing with up to 20 years of energy provision included in their purchase

The benefits Blue Eden will bring to regional economic development should not be understated. More than 1,000 manufacturing jobs are forecast to be created by the Batri Giga Factory alone, with 7,000 additional jobs supported across the factory’s supply chains. Other elements included in the project will create an estimated 1,500 jobs, bringing the suggested total direct employment for Blue Eden to be over 2,500 new jobs.

Leading the Blue Eden project and the consortium that will deliver it over the next twelve years are South Walesbased DST Innovations Ltd and sister company Batri Ltd. With specialisms in cutting-edge battery energy storage systems, lighting and screen technologies, and extensive experience of major technology projects in the United States, DST and Batri bring their global expertise to bear in the creation of Blue Eden.

The state-of-the-art project is a shining example of the opportunities transitioning to a green economy can bring and complements the “Future Ports: Wales Vision” recently announced by Associated British Ports.

Floating Solar Panels ©EDP & ©United Utilities. Batri Factory: Inspired by Ola Electric

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Divided into three distinct phases for delivery, the project will continue to grow in scope and technology, with green hydrogen, floating wind, and tidal stream technologies set to be added to the project in the coming months.

Tony Miles, CEO of DST said “Blue Eden is an opportunity to create a template for the world to follow – utilising renewable energy and maximising new technologies and thinking to develop not only a place to live and work, but also to thrive. We encourage all companies, innovators and investors to get in touch. The possibilities Blue Eden presents on a global scale are boundless”.

DST are supporters of HRH the Prince of Wales and the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s (SMI) Terra Carta – a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector. Blue Eden’s design and mission echo the charter, placing nature, people, and planet at the heart of global value creation.

”As a world, we need to come together to inspire, re-imagine and build the sustainable future we so desperately need.”

HRH, The Prince of Wales

“The pioneering work being carried out by DST and Batri in both Wales and West Virginia, USA, is a shining example of global collaboration working at its best, delivering innovative solutions that provide substantial contribution to both our war on climate change, and sustaining jobs in our communities.”

“It’s so exciting to see this Swanseabased project moving forward at such an important time for Wales and the World. It will bring cutting-edge innovation and research, thousands of high-quality green jobs, excellent low carbon homes and abundant renewable energy. I am delighted to see both Swansea and Wales right up at the top of global innovation and decarbonisation, as it should be.

The project will include a tidal lagoon, featuring state-of-the-art underwater turbines generating 320 megawatts of renewable energy. Swansea has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world, and this scheme will allow us to utilise the energy it provides to support our planet for future generations in a worldleading project we can all be proud of.

Renewable energy produced on site will power the entire development, including businesses and a mixed development of affordable housing, assisted living areas and luxury apartments.”

Julie James Member of the Senedd for Swansea West

“We are aware now more than ever of the need to develop renewable energy supplies to provide sustainable and affordable electricity to families and businesses.

Blue Eden will put Swansea and Wales at the cutting-edge of global renewable energy innovation, helping create thousands of well-paid jobs, significantly cut our carbon footprint and further raise Swansea’s profile across the world as a place to invest.

I’m delighted that an international consortium led by a Welsh company has developed our Dragon Energy Island vision into a ground-breaking project that delivers so many benefits and builds on the council’s ambition to become a net zero city by 2050.

This project truly is a game-changer for Swansea, its economy and renewable energy in the UK, and crucially it can be delivered without the need for Government subsidies.”

Cllr Rob Stewart Swansea Council Leader

Senator Joe Manchin Senator for West Virginia & Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

“We are engaged in discussions around the Blue Eden project which could deliver renewable energy, new homes and skilled jobs. This innovative prototype has the potential to be a first for the UK and bring Britain closer to our net zero target.

This is an exciting project. If delivered, alongside ABP’s own vision for South Wales, the Blue Eden Project could put the region at the very forefront of decarbonisation and digitalisation in Wales and at the vanguard of the energy transition journey and zero carbon living in the developed world.”

Andrew Harston Director of Wales and Short Sea Ports for ABP

“The innovative and exciting Blue Eden project underlines the value of reliable renewable energy generation from a tidal lagoon.

At a time when future energy security and stability is being questioned, the Tidal Range Alliance welcomes the launch of DST Innovations’ project. Alongside other schemes along the west coast of the UK, tidal range power generation has the potential to supply 5% - 10% of the country’s energy needs, reliably and predictably, unlike other intermittent renewables such as wind and solar”.

British Hydropower Association

“Having worked with the Swansea City Council team since 2018, to help develop a commercially viable solution to capturing the natural environmental benefits of tidal power within the Swansea Bay, we are delighted to see the progress being made by the DST Consortium with the Blue Eden project.

We created the concept of an integrated renewables project in 2019, where multiple renewables elements are combined to produce a better overall performance, and we have been so impressed with the way that the DST Consortium have taken these ideas and turned them into a reality.

Not only has DST created a successful and viable model for Swansea, but one that can be adopted across multiple locations globally, to provide a significant impact on the tackling the impending problems of climate change that are affecting us all.”

Paul Marsh Chief Strategy Officer, The Futurist Company

BATTERY FARM

Together, we’ll change the energy conversation

The Milford Haven Waterway is home to the UK’s largest energy port. From this deep water, west-coast base we have been providing services and solutions for the oil and gas sector for over sixty years. More recently, we’ve expanded to support new energy technologies attracted by the established energy infrastructure, superb skill and knowledge base, and world-class offshore energy resources.

Now, we are looking to the future. Our focus is supporting an increasingly diverse energy industry as it strives to meet UK Net Zero goals.

Come and talk to us and see how we are changing the energy conversation.

HYDROGEN

Wales leading the world since 1842

Wales can lay claim to a special place in the hydrogen economy, with the hydrogen fuel cell being invented in 1842 by none other than William Grove of Swansea.

If he were alive today, Sir William (as he became) might be slightly bemused by our current references to green hydrogen, blue hydrogen, grey hydrogen, yellow hydrogen, brown hydrogen and even turquoise hydrogen - but delighted that the time has finally come for this clean low-carbon gas to take what many predict to be a leading role in the way we power our industry, fuel our transport and heat our homes.

Pan-Wales Pilots, Projects & Programmes

Hydrogen is increasingly recognised around the world as a key fuel in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and across Wales, hydrogen development is already driving and informing smany of our key renewable energy initiatives. From HyNet’s advanced plans in the north east, Menter Môn’s hydrogen hub ambitions in Anglesey, the Port of Mostyn tidal lagoon and Snowdonia Aerospace Centre projects in the north - to the Milford Haven Energy Kingdom and University of South Wales’ projects in Pembrokeshire, hydrogen development is on the move. In Mid Wales, clean energy car manufacturer Riversimple is leading from the front with its hydrogen fuelled cars. In South east Wales a plethora of projects are underway with hydrogen at their heart, including Cardiff University’s Gas Turbine Research Centre in Port Talbot, Tarmac’s project at Aberthaw Cement Works, and Welsh Water’s programme at its Cardiff Waste Treatment Works, to name just a few.

Given this pioneering pan-Wales activity - involving stand-alone and collaborative projects by industry, academia and government - it’s no surprise that hydrogen is already being mooted as a key pillar in the Welsh Government’s Low Carbon Delivery Plan (LCDP), due to be unveiled in November 2021.

“Laying the foundations right now for scale-up and commercial deployment”

The Hydrogen Pathway

The eagerly-awaited LCDP will build on the direction of the Welsh Government report published in January 2021 and updated in April, which effectively set out a pathway for developing the hydrogen energy sector as a vital component in our transformation towards net zero - playing a central role in activities to 2025, focusing on short-term actions whilst starting to plan for large-scale projects in the mid-to-long-term.

The proposed hydrogen pathway for Wales is built around ten key objectives, each aimed at generating momentum in the Welsh hydrogen sector - and laying the foundations for scale-up and commercial deployment from the end of the 2020s. This pathway covers both hydrogen supply and end use, focusing on short-term opportunities where the commercial case is more developed, concentrating on ten areas of activity.

Deployment of 200 fuel cell buses in a town, city or region in Wales. Fuel cell buses have already been trialled across the UK, with the technology already proven and ready for deployment in larger fleets - creating a consistent demand for low-carbon hydrogen and helping Wales meet its target for all buses to be zero-emission by 2028.

Establishing Wales as an early market for commercial fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vans and trucks are at an earlier stage of development than buses, but initiatives to coordinate demand for them are already underway at a UK level. These include plans to develop standard specifications for vehicles, enabling them to be purchased at a scale that will attract manufacturers to bring fuel cell vans and trucks to our market, preparing Wales for large-scale deployments.

Supporting hydrogen-fuelled vehicle manufacturers. Wales is already home to the revolutionary Riversimple company - designer and and manufacturer of fuel-cell electric vehicles - giving us the know-how and technology to scale a sector that is sure to mature significantly from 2030 onwards.

Attracting vehicle integrators to Wales. There’s currently a lack of fuel cell vehicle options offered by vehicle manufacturers - providing an opportunity for vehicle integrators who can convert existing diesel or battery electric vehicles into hydrogen dual fuel or fuel cell range-extender vehicles.

Deploying fuel cell trains.

Replacing diesel trains with hydrogen fuel cell trains has huge potential to provide a decarbonised solution for Wales, harmonising future rolling stock orders with the UK Government’s target for no diesel-only trains by 2040 and the broader Net Zero 2050 target.

A renewable hydrogen production site of 10+MW by 2023/24. Wales has the opportunity to establish at least one hydrogen production site within the next two years - if we can make the business case that there’s sufficient demand for low-carbon hydrogen from the transport sector.

Scoping large-scale hydrogen production sites. Hydrogen provides a route to decarbonisation for many difficult-to-decarbonise sectors. Given the time to develop hydrogen production at scale, we have the opportunity to begin planning low carbon/renewable hydrogen production and delivery facilities in parallel with deployment of the initial smaller scale plants.

Supporting industrial decarbonisation through skills development and R&D. There’s a need for further research and development into how our industrial clusters can best decarbonise - and a skills gap to bridge for industrial fuel switching and the wider scale use of hydrogen as a fuel for industry. This presents Wales with an opportunity to develop world-class industrial decarbonisation expertise - exporting those skills and associated training to wherever needed.

Supporting local projects and placebased approaches. Developing hydrogen projects creates opportunities to engage with communities and opportunities in all parts of Wales.

Ongoing engagement with other hydrogen initiatives. There are a range of existing hydrogen initiatives which will further develop the hydrogen sector in our region - bringing opportunities to attract investment in manufacturing/ assembly plants for hydrogen-fuelled appliances, taking advantage of the existing skills base and supporting the growth of indigenous SMEs as they diversify into hydrogen activities throughout the value chain.

Realising the vision for Hydrogen across Wales

It is accepted that the overall level of real-world trials and deployment of hydrogen in energy applications across Wales as a whole remains relatively low. The hydrogen energy sector is not yet fully commercialised, with most projects typically relying on public funding.

The race to net zero is the catalyst that is about to change all that, with the pipeline of potential opportunities expanding significantly quarter by quarter. Collaborations between SMEs, academia and the industrial clusters can be built in confidence, given the proven depth of existing hydrogen experience providing a solid foundation for further development of energy applications. The recent establishment of the South Wales Industrial Cluster and HyCymru (the trade association for the Welsh hydrogen economy) will only further increase the collaborations, knowledge-share and innovation.

Wales holds competitive advantages in the safe generation, storage, transport and use of hydrogen (mainly as an industrial gas) - with a strong infrastructure, well-placed ports and a significant oil and gas presence providing a core skills base that can be deployed towards the emerging hydrogen activities, at scale.

The opportunity? We have the ingredients for an all-Wales approach that connects rural and marine resources with urban populations and industrial areas.

The time for hydrogen in Wales is now.

Anglesey hydrogen can bridge the UK’s energy gap

Anglesey can become a UK leader in hydrogen energy technology, cleaning up the transport sector and creating high quality jobs across North Wales, according to a leading Welsh economic expert.

This comes as motorists across the country struggle with chaos at petrol stations caused by a shortage of HGV delivery drivers. This follows UK Government Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s claim that the fuel could provide a third of the country’s energy as it bids to reach net zero emissions.

But the UK is already playing catch-up with rivals in Europe and further afield and needs to get up to speed quickly, says economist Dr Edward Jones, of Bangor University.

The world’s first hydrogen-powered trains are operating in Germany on a 100km stretch of track while the world’s first commercial hydrogen-powered fuel cell car has been produced by a Japanese manufacturer.

Dr Jones, from Bangor University’s Business School, said: “The UK Government made £4.8m available to develop hydrogen power in north west Wales and that will help social enterprise Menter Môn develop the technology in the region and also support the economy.”

He believes that North Wales has the infrastructure to make it the UK’s hydrogen capital but added: “China, EU nations, and the USA see hydrogen as the rock star of new energies and are busy establishing a hydrogen economy.

“We need to get our acts together and we need the governments in Cardiff and Westminster to really get behind green hydrogen and upskill people to work with it."

“Certainly, hydrogen comes with unique challenges. The gas is bulky, requires expensive specialist equipment that can be costly to maintain, and few people have experience of working with it.

“But costs are falling due to competition between countries in hydrogen technology.  This was the case with solar panels, where the associated costs plummeted as soon as its usage scaled-up.

Coastal Path, Rhosneigr, Anglesey, North Wales. assets.wales.com

“This is an exciting field and North Wales can be at the centre of it. The technology doesn’t only tackle climate change, it provides lots of high quality, well-paid jobs.

“We have the potential to use the expertise at M-SParc on Anglesey as well and the infrastructure to link in with the National Grid.

“Wales can become a UK hub for this exciting new power source with other hydrogen projects ongoing on Deeside in Flintshire and at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.

“Only green hydrogen made with renewables is considered completely sustainable. What makes Anglesey important is that we have here the potential link with other renewable projects in the region, such as the tidal potential of the Morlais project at Holyhead which Menter Môn are also involved with.”

Menter Môn have been working with a range of stakeholders over the last two years to develop the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub. These include Ynys Môn County Council, Stena, Bangor University and Grwp Llandrillo Menai, as well as the Wales and UK Governments.

Menter Môn Managing Director Dafydd Gruffydd explained: “In addition to making a contribution to Net Zero, our motivation is to maximise the local economic benefit from this project.  We believe this is best achieved via local ownership, as we are pursuing with the Morlais project.”

When generated using renewable energy, hydrogen gas reduces carbon dioxide emissions and provides a “greener” alternative to fossil fuels like oil or natural gas.

Hydrogen is created by passing an electrical current through water to separate hydrogen and oxygen, leaving clean water as the only by-product. A fuel cell allows the process to be reversed so hydrogen can then produce electricity.

The UK has introduced a ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and hydrogen-fuelled cars could become a common site on North Wales roads in the not too distant future.

Dr Jones believes hydrogen could also hold the key to powering transport in future through a Welsh invention from the 19th century (the hydrogen fuel cell was developed in Swansea by William Grove in 1842).

Current electric car batteries are made using lithium and cobalt, chemicals which are difficult to extract and have major environmental hazards associated with them and are almost impossible to recycle.

Dr Jones added: “Hydrogen fuel cells provide a possible solution to the challenge of needing to transform the

transportation sector and because it is the most common element on earth supply is not a problem.

“A vehicle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell could have a range of up to 500 miles, recharge in 15 minutes and instead of carbon monoxide produce only steam.”

“In North West Wales we also have enough potential for green energy to be able to manufacture hydrogen through renewable energy.

“Current costs are high which would require subsidies to lose the gap on existing fuels, but as production ramps up then costs will tumble.

“The world is uniting to fight climate change and North Wales is playing a vital part in keeping the planet on course for achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

For more on Bangor University go to www.bangor.ac.uk

An energy bridge to the future – Anglesey can be the UK’s hydrogen hub according to Bangor University economist Dr Edward Jones, left, and Menter Môn Chief Executive Dafydd Gruffydd.

HyCymru – Creating Hydrogen Bonds

HyCymru, the Wales Hydrogen Trade Association, is the membership body to advance the hydrogen economy in Wales in the 2020s. We are advocates and capacity-builders.

Since our inception last year, even we have been blown away by the surge of interest - and active developments - in the hydrogen space. Including in Wales; across the country and reaching all sectors.

That is what makes hydrogen so important. It can reach those difficult-to-decarbonise parts of the economy. It can be produced and used across Wales and at all scales. Hydrogen complements other net zero technologies and can release the full potential of Wales’ huge untapped renewable energy resource.

Other countries are scaling-up on hydrogen quickly and Wales has a unique opportunity to do the same, while retaining ownership of the opportunity and wealth in the country.

We have our own markets which we can serve: in industry, transport, heating, power generation and agriculture. And we could also become an exporter of hydrogen to external, hungry markets.

There is a lot of hydrogen know-how in Wales - from R&D to production to end-use markets, products and services. Right through the value-chain. And we are creating hydrogen bonds with the global hydrogen community.

HyCymru will work in partnership to advance the hydrogen economy in Wales by:

• Representing the fuel cell & hydrogen (FCH) industries at government level and amongst public and private sector bodies; and within communities in Wales.

• Gathering and discussing market intelligence.

• Networking to collaborate on supply chain synergies which can match the supply and demand of hydrogen for a wide-range of applications.

• Promote rapid innovation through sharing knowledge.

• Provide a business development service which helps to identify project opportunities and provides introductory and brokerage services to our members.

• Help access finance to fund hydrogen project developments.

• Influence and support policy developments.

• Raise public awareness of hydrogen.

• Develop partnerships with and learn from international best practice.

Guto Owen and William Grove at the Wales Hydrogen Trade Association launch event, February 2020.

Air Products

Air Products is a cornerstone of the European hydrogen economy.

With more than 60 years’ experience and proven technology, Air Products is the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen and a leader in hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. It is a key player in creating a world built on hydrogen for mobility, where hydrogen and fuel cell technology will play a central role in decarbonising heavy-duty vehicles and industry.

Safely delivering reliable end-to-end hydrogen solutions – from production to distribution and fuelling stations – Air Products enables buses, trucks, trains and ships across the world to be fuelled by hydrogen. As a global business, Air Products is present in Wales and has been for many years. Its aim is to continue working with its Welsh customers to help them achieve their sustainability goals and work together to reduce the environmental impact of their operations.

This will lead to a cleaner future for our planet and allow even more services and industries across Wales to be powered by hydrogen fuel.

Menter Môn

Since 2014 this Anglesey-based social enterprise has been working to make sure that north Wales is on the map in terms of renewables, with Morlais, its tidal energy project.

Morlais is the largest renewables scheme to be managed by a third sector enterprise, entirely for the benefit of the community.

Morlais has the potential to create up to 100 skilled jobs in the first 10 years, and many more through the supply chain. Linked to Morlais and the potential of the renewable energy sector, opportunities are emerging in other sectors such as Hydrogen.

Menter Môn is already playing a key role thanks to work undertaken in partnership with Ynni Glân on a potential Hydrogen Hub for Holyhead.

The first of its kind in Wales, the project is a partnership with the Isle of Anglesey County Council. In its first stages, the plan for Holyhead would see hydrogen produced on the site and distributed as fuel. The long-term aim is to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy from Morlais.

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HyNet North West

HyNet is an innovative low carbon and hydrogen energy project that will unlock a low carbon economy for the North West and North Wales and put the region at the forefront of the UK's drive to net zero.

With its history of bold innovation and industry, the region is the perfect choice to lead the low carbon energy transition. Whilst ambitious, HyNet is low-cost and achievable. It meets the major challenges of reducing CO2 emissions from industry, providing fuel for our transport and heating for our homes and businesses.

From 2025, HyNet will produce, store and distribute hydrogen as well as capture and store carbon from industry in the North West of England and North Wales. We will use state-of-the-art technology to build new infrastructure whilst also upgrading and reusing existing infrastructure which is currently involved in fossil fuel production. We have designed the infrastructure to be both affordable and safe, and to be built quickly to help the region and the UK to meet its net-zero targets by 2050.

Protium

Protium Green Solutions have partnered with Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I to create the first green hydrogen supply to a brewery. This hydrogen project will fuel Magor Brewery’s production, as well as its key logistics assets including Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and forklift trucks. Budweiser Brewing Group, part of AB InBev, have set ambitious global 2025 sustainability goals, including the aim of having 100% of their electricity coming from renewable sources.

Hydrogen is an exciting opportunity as it’s the lightest and the most abundant element in the universe. It also acts as an energy carrier which means it could play a crucial role in supporting the transition to a decarbonised global economy. There are zero greenhouse gas emissions associated with hydrogen generation if the energy required for this process originates entirely from renewable sources. This new hydrogen infrastructure is expected to produce more than 20MW of renewable energy in order to power the brewery, and through decarbonising the brewery, it is expected to eliminate 15,500 tonnes of CO₂e per year, which is the equivalent of removing 3,300 cars from the road.

Wales & West Utilities

Wales & West Utilities look after the pipes that keep the gas flowing to heat homes and power businesses of 7.5m people across Wales and south west England. The company is investing £400m between 2021-2025 preparing the gas network for hydrogen and biomethane, which will play a key role in helping communities and heavy industry decarbonise.

Additionally, the company supports hydrogen projects across Wales, including HyNet: which will capture and store CO₂ while dramatically increasing the supply of hydrogen in North Wales; and the South Wales Industrial Cluster, which sets out a roadmap to decarbonise heavy industry along the M4 corridor while supporting local jobs and the economy.

The company recently received permission to inject up to 1% hydrogen into the gas network in Swindon –decarbonising local homes – and alongside Britain’s other gas networks published Britain’s Hydrogen Network Plan, which sets out steps to turn Britain’s hydrogen ambitions into reality – including blending up to 20% hydrogen into local gas grids by 2023 and converting villages to 100% hydrogen by 2025.

AMRC Cymru

AMRC Cymru is a £20m cutting-edge R&D facility, backed by the Welsh Government, that provides an open innovation centre for all manufacturers and is part of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

Engineers in Broughton are de-risking the assembly and production scale up of hydrogen fuel cells with the Hydrogen Electric Propulsion Systems (HEPS) testbed. The testbed will drive the industrialisation of the green technology by harnessing the AMRC’s expertise in design for manufacture in a fuel cell assembly area where Industry 4.0 technologies and in-process inspection techniques will optimise the assembly process.

Work on the HEPS testbed is being guided by an industry steering board which includes large global manufacturers including BAE Systems, GKN, Rolls Royce and Toyota, alongside smaller companies such as electric vehicle manufacturers Wave Industries, Hypermotive and Riversimple. The High Value Manufacturing Catapult, of which AMRC is one of seven centres in the UK, has funded the project, with the industries targeted including aerospace. energy, heavy automotive, transport and rail.

wwutilities.co.uk

e  l.l.wheeler@sheffield.ac.uk www.amrc.co.uk

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Milford Haven: Energy Kingdom

Milford Haven: Energy Kingdom (MH:EK) is a £4.5m project exploring the vital role hydrogen could play in a decarbonised energy future.

The project is primarily delivering a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study that is laying the foundations for what could be the first of many Smart Local Energy Systems, and seeks to make a strong business case for investment in hydrogen to the Government and engaged key stakeholders in the Waterway.

The project will also demonstrate the practical application of hydrogen technology. The project is demonstrating and testing the feasibility of two hydrogen powered RASA cars. Built by Welsh company Riversimple, they will operate as fleet cars in and around the Haven, using the green hydrogen electrolyser and refuelling facility now installed on Mackerel Quay on the Port estate. A hydrogen-ready smart hybrid heating system has also been installed and is being tested in an operational Port building.

Riversimple

Powys-based pioneering automotive company Riversimple is developing affordable green hydrogen-powered cars in the heart of Wales.

In 2021 the company raised £1.75m from 600 private investors and is using the funding to build vehicles for customer trials taking place in Abergavenny and Milford Haven. Founder and CEO Hugo Spowers plans to establish the company’s first commercial production facility in mid Wales, capable of making 5,000 cars a year.

Crowdfunding and investment from Angels Invest Wales in 2021 has ensured Riversimple is in a position to complete its fleet of 20 Rasa vehicles for trials, and undertake the work needed on the design and costing of the plant and full scale production process.

The company plans to raise £180m over the next four years through share offerings and other sources.

WIND Discover.

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Offshore and Onshore Wind continue to play a major role in Welsh renewable electricity, accounting for 29% and 38% of renewable generation respectively. Behind the positive statistics lies an impressive and ever-increasing technical ingenuity offshore - and something of a statutory tipping point onshore, with the publishing of the National Development Framework, 'Future Wales: The National Plan 2040', in spring 2021.

Offshore Wind is already working for Wales

When the 576MW Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm was commissioned in the summer of 2015, just off the coast of North Wales, it became Wales’ largest wind farm - and the fifth largest operating offshore wind farm in the world. The output of 1,950 GWh per year is capable of powering around 400,000 homes - or 30% of the homes in Wales - as well as preventing the release of approximately 1.7Mt of carbon dioxide every year.

The potential extension of the Gwynt y Môr site could double this alreadyimpressive energy generation, taking the site up to over 1GW. With the Crown Estate currently considering opportunities for the next leasing round for offshore wind in the UK - and with further potential sites for Wales still under consideration for Leasing Round 4 - we are being given a tantalising glimpse of the potential future for wind power in Wales.

“ The fifth largest operating offshore wind farm in the world gives a glimpse of Wales’ potential”

There are, in fact, already three major offshore wind projects in Wales, all located off the North Wales coast in Liverpool Bay - courtesy of The Crown Estate’s first leasing round, which led to the development of the North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats projects in 2003 and 2009 respectively, creating

a combined capacity of 150MW prior to the 160-turbine Gywnt y Môr being developed in the second leasing round and commissioned on June 18th in 2015. So with an existing critical mass already ‘here’, what does the future hold for this proven renewable energy in Wales?

Although Wales is far from unique in enjoying the potential of offshore wind - this technology has been a success story across the UK and the reduction in price has accelerated as the technology has matured - many experts believe that Wales has some of the strongest prospects for offshore wind in Europe, with significant potential to deploy both fixed and floating offshore wind infrastructure.

Currently, the majority of the UK’s offshore wind farms are located in the North Sea and unlocking sites off the Welsh coast will be essential to ensure security of supply by taking advantage of the different weather patterns around the UK coast.

The fourth round of seabed leasing is underway and due to conclude by spring 2022, with the opportunity for an additional 7GW of new projects in English and Welsh waters, including a development area focusing on the North Wales region. The Crown Estate has already granted seabed rights for a 576MW extension to the Gywnt y Môr wind farm - named Awel y Môr and due to be operational in 2030 - and also awarded the rights for a 96MW floating wind demonstration project 45km off the south Pembrokeshire Coast, to Blue Gem Wind Ltd.

“ The challenges are ensuring that the infrastructure, grid availability, supporting technology and seabed leasing processes are in place”

This will be the first floating wind farm in Welsh waters and, with construction expected to conclude by 2027, it could well be the first in a series of projects in the Celtic Sea aimed at “maximising local supply chain content”.

The key challenge to unlock the potential of Welsh offshore wind sites is ensuring that the associated infrastructure and grid availability is capable of supporting this technology - and a suitable seabed leasing process is in place. Ports will play a significant role in capturing supply chain benefits and investment in Welsh ports will maximise the potential scale of floating wind in the Celtic Sea. Beyond that, Wave and Tidal Stream technologies are being tested in Wales, with the long term aspiration that our two demonstration zones - the West Anglesey Demonstration Zone and the South Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone - will enable developers to test both prototype and proven technologies.

A pan-Wales push in Onshore Wind

With 748 projects deploying 1.25GW across seven authorities, Welsh onshore wind capacity continues to increase - from large-scale projects such as the 27-turbine 96MW

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Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm situated on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate (on the border of Denbighshire and Conwy) and the 16-turbine 32.8MW Mynydd Y Gwair Wind Farm in Swansea (expected to produce enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of 22,600 Welsh homes), right through to smaller community-owned projects such as the CAREWT1 development in Pembrokeshire and the Ffrwd Farm turbine in Ceredigion.

Neath Port Talbot has the highest capacity of onshore wind at the moment, with a total of 230MW (nearly two thirds of this capacity is from the Pen y Cymoedd wind farm, located on the border of Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf) but many other parts of Wales now enjoy the supportive planning environment as well as strong wind resources to realise significant onshore wind development.

The biggest barrier to date has been the geographical disparity between developable areas and suitable network infrastructure. Some projects have historically bid under the Contracts for Difference auctions - and there is increasing developer confidence about the feasibility of subsidy-free projects - but up until now the future of onshore wind has been shaped by Welsh Government.

“Wales’ National Development Framework is widely seen to ‘favour’ onshore wind technology”

Encouragingly, the long-awaited National Development Framework - Future Wales: The National Plan 2040 - was published in spring 2021; and is widely viewed to be in favour of large-scale wind energy developments, subject to

meeting the policy requirements for protecting “visual amenity, ecological sites, heritage assets, surrounding amenity (noise, shadow, flicker, etc), defence interests or transport.”

This first national spatial plan for Wales has created a new ‘Pre-Assessed Area’ covering almost 281,000 hectares (compared to just under 77,000Ha under the previous guidelines) - a policy development that is broadly supportive of wind technology, ‘tipping the balance’ of decision-making towards wind energy even outside the Pre-Assessed Area.

With the pilots, projects, programmes - and policy - in place, Wind in Wales looks to be an increasingly powerful force for renewable energy right across our country.

"...we are being given a tantalising glimpse of the potential future for wind power in Wales."

Onshore wind central to Wales’ green growth plans

Rhys Wyn Jones Head of RenewableUK Cymru

Onshore wind is central to Wales’ zero carbon future.  As among the lowest-cost forms of renewable power generation, it can contribute to reducing electricity bills for consumers.  More significant than any target is the potential economic value and employment that onshore wind can deliver. If we view future development as a zero-sum game between Welsh power and UK consumption, we risk playing roulette with both our climate and economic development ambition.  Considering how other parts of the UK are roaring ahead on zero carbon investment, this is a risk Wales can ill afford.

“But facilitating any additional build out requires investment in our grid, annual auctions for contracts to generate clean power and a sensible planning environment.”

RenewableUK has published an Onshore Wind Industry Prospectus detailing how all parts of the UK can maximise the economic benefits of onshore wind for bill payers.

The prospectus shows that doubling the UK’s onshore wind capacity to 30GW by 2030 could:

• Reduce consumer bills by £16.3bn in the 2020s.

• Amount to an annual saving of £25 for every household.

• Create 3,000 Welsh jobs and £4.4 billion GVA with Mid and North Wales benefitting most.

• Sustain high levels of Welsh content in designing, building and maintaining onshore wind farms.

The recommended UK-wide target of 30GW by 2030 includes specific targets:

• 3.5GW target in Wales (1.3GW currently)

• 3.6GW in England (up from 2.9GW)

• 2.5GW in Northern Ireland (up from 1.3GW)

• 20.4GW in Scotland (up from 8.4GW currently)

Furthermore, polling published today by RenewableUK1 shows onshore wind enjoys a high level of public support in Wales:

• 71% support the development of more onshore wind turbines in Wales

• 74% want the Government to set a long-term target for wind energy ahead of the UN summit on climate change in November

• 78% of the public agree that the Government should work proactively with the onshore wind industry to boost jobs and local business opportunities

• 63% support building new power cables to support development of new renewable energy sources

• 74% think when an old wind farm comes to the end of its life, it should be replaced with a new one built on the same land

The UK Climate Change Committee has advised UK Government that we need to install 35GW of onshore wind by 2035 as a key step to reaching net zero2

At present the UK is consenting less than half the annual capacity needed to reach that target.3 Only 22MW of onshore wind was commissioned in Wales in 2020.4

Onshore wind also has a key role to play in producing green hydrogen for a wide range of uses. The prospectus notes renewable hydrogen generated by onshore wind could generate £1.4bn of economic activity and create 1,000 full-time jobs by 2030.

To seize these benefits, the prospectus sets out a wide range of actions for industry, the UK and devolved Governments including:

• introducing annual Contract for Difference auctions to stimulate more investment,

• expediting a new strategy for grid development in Wales,

• reforming Ofgem so that it sharpens its focus on net zero

• ensuring older onshore wind farms are replaced with modern, more efficient turbines.

1 Polling conducted by Survation, 1062 adults living in Wales, July 5-19th 2021

2 https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ Net-Zero-Technical-report-CCC.pdf

3 RUK project intelligence

4 ibid

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Blue Gem Wind

Simply Blue Energy, a pioneering Celtic Sea energy developer, and TotalEnergies, one of the world’s largest energy companies, have established a partnership to develop floating wind projects in waters of the Celtic Sea.

The joint venture, Blue Gem Wind was announced in March 2020 and opens a new chapter in the development of offshore energy in the UK.

Our vision is to create a new low carbon offshore energy sector in the Celtic Sea that contributes to climate change targets, provides high skilled jobs, supply chain diversification and energy security.

We believe that a stepping stone approach to the development of floating wind in the Celtic Sea brings a number of benefits. Starting with smaller demonstration and early-commercial projects, increasing in size, will help to capture the highest local supply chain content. It will also maximise knowledge transfer and facilitate a sustainable transfer to a low carbon economy.

Because of this focus on stepping stone projects we have proposed Erebus, a 96MW test and demonstration project followed by Valorous, a 300MW early-commercial project.

Celtic Sea Power

Celtic Sea Power is strategically developing Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) for the Celtic Sea region, accelerating the transition to a new green economy, and ensuring the benefits are realised within Wales, Cornwall and south-west England.

FLOW in the Celtic Sea has the potential to provide over 100GW of offshore energy, making a significant contribution to the UK’s energy needs, and helping meet the UK’s aims for net zero and energy security. CSP is involved in developing regional strategy for ports, grid and infrastructure; working to reduce consenting delays through zonal planning and marine data acquisition; readying the local supply chain and promoting skills development. As a commercial subsidiary of Cornwall Council, Celtic Sea Power is uniquely placed to deliver on these aims.

To achieve this Celtic Sea Power is running two major projects: The Pembroke Demonstration Zone (PDZ) and the Cornwall FLOW Accelerator (CFA). CSP collaborates closely with Offshore Renewable Energy - Catapult, University of Exeter and University of Plymouth and are a lead partner of the Celtic Sea Cluster.

e

e  phil.johnston@celticseapower.co.uk www.celticseapower.co.uk

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Marine Power Systems

Floating offshore energy represents a vast source of untapped renewable energy globally. Whilst offshore winds in shallow waters have been harnessed by fixed bottom wind turbines, wind and wave energy in deep water has been largely untapped.

Swansea-based Marine Power Systems was founded in 2008 and they have developed a flexible technology that is the only solution of its type that can be configured to harness wind and wave energy, either as a combined solution or on their own, in deep water. Built on a common platform their devices deliver both cost efficiency and performance throughout the entire product lifecycle – from manufacture, through deployment to operations and maintenance. The approach is unique and patented by Marine Power Systems.

MPS are on a mission to create a better future. One based on clean, affordable, renewable energy using the power of oceans. One where business and technology supports both economic and environmental sustainability.

RWE Renewables

RWE is one of the globally leading companies in renewables and the largest power producer in Wales and is committed to being carbon neutral by 2040.

Having pioneered onshore and offshore wind for more than 20 years, it is also one of the largest providers of firm flexible generation, which is crucial for security of supply. The company already operates 3.7GW of wind capacity (RWE share 2.1GW) and around 7GW of modern and efficient gas-fired capacity in the UK. With partners, RWE is investing around £5bn into two UK offshore wind farms, Triton Knoll and Sofia Offshore Wind Farm and is currently developing four new offshore wind farms and is preferred bidder for two new adjacent offshore sites on Dogger Bank.

RWE is also developing new onshore wind whilst pursuing floating wind ambitions in Scotland and in the Celtic Sea, off the coast of South West Wales. The company is developing new battery storage solutions and exploring the broader decarbonisation of its Pembroke Power Station through new hydrogen initiatives, and options for CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) within its gas fleet.

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e  contact@marinepowersystems.co.uk www.marinepowersystems.co.uk

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e  communications@rwe.com www.uk-ireland.rwe.com

Wales’ leading energy partner

RWE is the largest power producer in Wales and committed to being carbon neutral by 2040.

We own and operate around 3 GW of energy generation across 12 sites with a diverse portfolio of onshore wind, offshore wind, hydro and gas, directly employing around 200 people plus many more indirectly.

Over the last decade, together with partners, the company has invested well over £3 billion delivering energy projects in Wales. This is set to grow further with Awel y Môr Offshore Wind Farm, which will be the largest single renewable energy investment in Wales. Our development pipeline of around 150 MW of onshore wind will help maintain RWE’s position as one of the largest investors in Wales. In addition, RWE recently launched The Pembroke Net Zero Centre to maximise the potential of hydrogen, floating offshore wind and carbon capture.

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WAVE / TIDAL Discover.

unleashing our seas

the power of

Wave and tidal energy projects are putting Wales at the helm of global innovation

With the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change estimating the UK has around 50% of Europe’s potential tidal energy resource, it is little wonder that tidal technology has moved back up the political and climate agenda in this part of the world.

A recent report by the Commons Environmental Audit Committee has urged the UK Government to consider the benefits of tidal range in the UK’s energy mix.

In July 2021 the UK Government’s Welsh Affairs Committee published its interim report Renewable Energy in Wales noting industry’s view that tidal stream technologies are ready for precommercial deployment, having made significant progress in reliability and cost, and that wave energy could add a net cumulative benefit to the UK of £4bn and 8,100 jobs by 2040. Central to the Welsh Government’s Marine Plan, no area of renewable energy development is higher on the Senedd’s agenda than wave and tidal.

Given the geography and geology of its 1,400km coastline, Wales is wellpositioned to play a global leading role in marine energy. Home to wave and tidal stream Demonstration Zones (off Pembrokeshire and Anglesey respectively), with seabed agreements in place for three separate wave and tidal stream projects, plus proposals in the pipeline for significant tidal range pilots, Wales is nurturing some of the most pioneering and valuable tidal energy solutions on the planet.

World-leading Tidal and Wave Projects

The £35m West Anglesey Tidal Demonstration Zone, known as Morlais, is a proposed 35km2 project on the seabed around the promontory of Holy Island. Chosen for its tidal current and relatively low wave regime - Morlais is projected to generate up to 240MW of electricity (enough to power 180,000 households) and transmitted from the Morlais site to the National Grid. Morlais is the first large-scale third sector community renewable energy project in the UK.

Further south, 15 kilometres off the Pembrokeshire coast at a depth of 50-62 metres, the Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone (PDZ) is a 90km2 area has the potential to support three wave energy arrays, each capable of generating up to 30MW, together with a pre-commercial 90MW floating wind demonstration project. The site also benefits from a 19 kW/m wave resource as well as a 10m/s wind resource, with excellent grid connection possibilities

that include a 132kV transmission line and substation located on the coast - plus world-class deepwater port facilities and support services.

The PDZ project is led by Celtic Sea Power, an arm’s length offshore renewables company wholly owned by Cornwall Council. In addition to the deployment of floating offshore wind and wave energy technology demonstrators, Celtic Sea Power are examining the PDZ’s potential to be the site of a large offshore multi-purpose integrator, to extend the UK transmission network offshore.

Leading-edge Lagoons and Tidal Technologies

North Wales and Pembrokeshire are fast-becoming global centres of tidal and wave technology innovation - projecting, piloting and testing renewable solutions that could meet the energy needs of Wales and beyond.

Launched in March 2021, the Welsh Government's Tidal Lagoon Challenge

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is campaigning for a pathfinder project - following in the footsteps Port of Mostyn’s plan for the proposed North Wales Tidal Lagoon, which would stretch 30km from Llandudno to Prestatyn, impounding an area of 157km2, generating enough predictable blue power to meet the needs of over one million homes.

Bold new plans are also afoot for Swansea Bay’s tidal lagoon being developed as part of DST Innovations’ Blue Eden project. The 9.5km2 lagoon is projected to generate 320MW of carbon free electricity.

“North Wales and Pembrokeshire are fast-becoming global innovation centres for marine energy”

North Wales has already attracted global marine technology leaders such as Minesto (who are developing their Deep Green 10MW array project

“North Wales and Pembrokeshire are fast-becoming global innovation centres for marine energy”

off the coast of Anglesey) and Nova Innovation’s 1MW array at Ynys Enlli, who are building on their successful deployment of the world’s first commercial tidal array in Shetland in 2016.

Pembrokeshire is building an equally impressive pedigree, with the multiaward-winning ocean energy company Bombora developing a cutting-edge wave energy converter - mWave™capable of delivering low cost, low impact 1.5MW renewable electricity for commercial use, and Marine Power Systems choosing to develop its WaveSub wave energy converter in the west Wales marine energy supply chain.

This fast-emerging west Wales renewable energy ‘incubator and accelerator’ ecosystem is perhaps best symbolised by META - the Marine Energy Test Area that offers a series

of pre-consented test sites within the relatively sheltered environment of the Milfiord Haven Waterway, providing easy access testing facilities to help marine energy device developers de-risk future deployments.

With a supply chain in place ready to utilise industry-best expertise in constructing and deploying leadingedge marine energy devices - and the added advantage of world-class deep water facilities and support provided by eight major ports - the tide is coming in for the Welsh wave, stream and tidal range projects that are capable of delivering a major sustainable resource for Wales and potentially leading the world in renewable marine energy.

Why do we need marine renewable energy?

by Jess Hooper, Programme Manager at Marine Energy Wales

Marine renewables offer an untapped solution to climate change for Wales and the UK. These clean and abundant sources of energy should be recognised for their predictability, reliability and for the substantial contribution they can make to net zero targets. Wales’s unique geography has blessed the country’s waters with abundant tidal stream, tidal range and wave resource as well as deep-water areas suitable for floating offshore wind. With the right level of support and investment to enable continued innovation Wales could become one of the best and easiest places to produce offshore renewable energy.

Generating power from multiple diverse sources is key to delivering a continuous supply of renewable energy to our homes. The wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Marine renewables can balance fluctuations in these energy sources to ensure that the lights stay on. They also increase security of supply by reducing our reliance on imported fuels.

As a homegrown industry creating high quality skilled jobs, Wales’s marine renewable industry is already stimulating regeneration in coastal regions. By creating more opportunities for meaningful employment around our coast this sector represents a key driver for retaining talent and nurturing skills in Wales.

The industry has shown record growth in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Targeted support can stimulate

further growth as part of a sustainable economic recovery, creating and maintaining jobs in a resilient industry with long term prospects.

Through supporting innovation to develop world class marine renewable technologies Wales can maintain its position as a global leader in this industry. Continued alignment of our rich maritime and industrial heritage with 21st Century needs will enable Wales to become a major exporter of marine renewable technologies and the associated knowledge, know-how and expertise; tapping into an ocean of wealth and opportunity.

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Bombora

A culture of innovation has propelled Bombora since mWave™’s inception in a farm barn in Perth, Western Australia in 2012. Today, we are delivering a blueprint for multi megawatt scale, reliable and competitive wave energy converter technology, deployed independently or co-located with offshore wind. Bombora established its European operations in Pembrokeshire, in the heart of a dynamic, marine energy focused region and is progressing the 1.5MW mWave™ Pembrokeshire Demonstration Project supported by ERDF funding through the Welsh Government.

Bombora’s innovative mWave™ produces environmentally friendly, consistent and cost competitive energy for commercial power generation in coastal locations throughout the world. Bombora’s core business is the supply of the key mWaveTM components, the cell modules and Power Take Off unit. Individual project requirements determine what additional products and services Bombora would supply. The project delivery package can be be a combination of any or all of the following: product, project development services, engineering consulting, operations and maintenance management services. Bombora can deliver wave energy as a true alternative to complement today’s renewable energy mix.

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e  enquiries@bomborawave.com www.bomborawave.com

Celtic Sea Power –The Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone

Celtic Sea Power are the managers and operators of The Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone (PDZ) which has the potential to: act as a catalyst in the establishment of a centre for low carbon, at sea, energy production in Wales; stimulate the development of strategically enabling infrastructure to accelerate the growth of offshore energy off the coast of Wales; enable the deployment of current and future energy generating technologies.

The PDZ is located between 15 and 21 kilometres off the south Pembrokeshire coast with water depths of between 50-62 metres and benefits from the proximity of a 132kV grid supply point located on the coast, along with world-class deepwater port facilities and support services. PDZ will act as an exemplar for aggregated offshore grid connections, overcoming some of the key barriers to the development of Offshore Renewable Energy in Welsh waters.

Connect.

e  enquiries@celticseapower.co.uk www.celticseapower.co.uk

Marine Energy Wales

Marine Energy Wales is the trade association representing the wave, tidal stream, tidal range and floating offshore wind industries in Wales. As the single point of access for the industry MEW brings together technology developers, test centres, wider sectoral alliances, the supply chain, academia and the public sector to help establish Wales as a global leader in sustainable marine energy generation.

Our vision is to create a thriving and diverse emerging offshore renewables industry in Wales that brings with it the combined benefits of climate change mitigation, reliable contributions to the national energy mix, jobs and economic development in Wales’s rural coastal zones, as well as large-scale future export potential.

We currently have a 60+ strong membership made up of organisations from across the sector and this is growing on a monthly basis. Join us to get the best information on opportunities across the sector, build your industry network and to support our political engagement on behalf of the sector.

Marine Power Systems

Marine Power Systems is revolutionising the way we harvest energy from the world’s oceans and is Wales’ leading homegrown marine energy technology developer.

Our unique and flexible technology is the only solution of its type that can be configured to harness wind and wave energy, either as a combined solution or on their own, in deep water. Built on a common platform our devices deliver both cost efficiency and performance throughout the entire product lifecycle – from manufacture, through deployment to operations and maintenance.

The wave energy converter has a unique wave energy capture mechanism – directly and efficiently harnessing both the heave and surge energy of the wave. Each energy absorber can capture over a megawatt of power. Each platform has multiple absorbers, delivering significant multi megawatt power output per machine. Our bestin-class floating platform technology is capable of supporting the most powerful wind turbines available today and in the future.

Connect.

e  contact@marinepowersystems.co.uk www.marinepowersystems.co.uk

META – Wales’ National Test Facility

META is a £2.6 million project managed under the Marine Energy Wales programme and has developed a series of eight test areas in the Milford Haven Waterway and surrounding areas; providing the opportunity to test devices, sub-assemblies and components.

The project’s mission is to reduce the time, cost and risks faced by marine energy developers in order to accelerate growth in the sector, whilst complementing the existing test centre network present across the UK including the two Welsh Demonstration Zones.

META is easily accessible and therefore ideal for early stage developers, and is also a perfect base for research and innovation. Targeting Technology

Readiness Level 4-6, the sites are non-grid connected, ranging from sheltered port-based to open sea, yet accessible, locations. META is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (through the Welsh Government), the Coastal Communities Fund and the Swansea Bay City Deal and contributes towards Wales’ plans to play a key role in a growing global market.

Minesto

Minesto develops a revolutionary concept for generating electricity from the ocean that unlocks a so far untapped renewable energy resource. Minesto’s Deep Green and Dragon Class technology generates electricity from low-flow tidal streams and ocean currents by a unique and patented principle similar to a stunt kite flying in the wind. The wing uses the hydrodynamic lift force created by the underwater current to move the kite.

With onboard control system and rudders, the kite is autonomously steered in a pre-determined figure of eight, pushing the turbine through the water. By doing so, the turbine experiences a water flow several times higher than the actual stream speed. The turbine diffuses power to the generator which outputs electricity via power cable in the tether. Seabed umbilical transfers the electricity to the onshore connection. Deep Green is the only known technology to operate cost-effectively at low-flow sites, generating electricity in stream flows as low as 1.2m/s and can be installed both in shallow and deep water.

Minesto’s Deep Green technology is to be used at Holyhead Deep, off the coast of Anglesey, in the world’s first low-flow tidal stream energy project.

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Morlais –West Anglesey Tidal Demonstration Zone

Morlais is a Menter Môn project which aims to benefit local communities, the economy and help tackle climate change by using renewable energy to generate clean low carbon electricity. The Morlais project manages a 35 km2 area of seabed off the coast of Holy Island, Anglesey and has the potential to put Ynys Môn on the map in terms of tidal stream energy.

The first stage of the project has focussed on securing consent. Community and stakeholder consultation and engagement has been a key part of this process. The consent application was submitted in the autumn of 2019 and a decision is expected by Welsh Ministers during the second half of 2021. Subject to achieving consent and approval, the second stage will put the necessary infrastructure in place for developers of tidal stream energy converters to deploy their technology in the zone. Implementation will be phased which means devices will be installed gradually and on a small scale to begin with to ensure that the development does not negatively impact marine wildlife.

Nova Innovation

Nova Innovation is a world-leading tidal energy company - transforming the power of our seas into clean, predictable electricity. We design, build and operate tidal turbines that generate power from the natural ebb and flow of the tide.

Nova installed the world’s first offshore tidal array in Shetland, Scotland in 2016 that has been powering homes, businesses and the grid for the past five years. Nova added energy storage to its technology in 2018 by working with Tesla to create the world’s first baseload tidal power station, providing energy on demand. In 2021, Nova created the world’s first tidal powered electric vehicle (EV) charge point in Shetland.

Learnings from Shetland have enabled Nova to develop tidal energy projects across the UK, including our Enlli tidal energy project in north Wales, Europe, North America and South East Asia.

Our 100kW next generation tidal turbines deliver industry-leading performance and can be installed in seas, estuaries and large rivers, generating clean predictable electricity for people around the world, and contributing to a net zero carbon future.

SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY FROM OFFSHORE WIND, WAVE AND TIDAL ENERGY IN WALES

The Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence (MEECE) is delivering research, development and demonstration activities to support innovation in the supply chain, accelerating the commercialisation of the wave, tidal and offshore wind sectors by reducing the cost of energy. - Identifying the Potential - Developing the Welsh Supply Chain - Driving UK and International Collaboration - Accelerating Floating Offshore Wind

Get in touch with MEECE and find out how we can help and support your business by visiting meece.org.uk

untapping the energy of our inland waterways

HYDRO Discover.

View from the former Dinorwig slate quarry, Llanberis, North Wales

Harnessing the proven power of Welsh water Inform.

One of the UK’s fastest sources of electricity is hidden away in the mountains of North Wales, poised to spring into action in the event of energy shortages. Dinorwig is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant and a forbearer of modern hydropower. It was built in a former slate quarry in Snowdonia’s Elidir Mountain in the 1970s, when the electricity makeup of the UK began to change and a rapid response source of energy became a necessity.

Creating energy by opening its six valves - the ball mechanisms for which are the largest ever built - this wonder of Welsh engineering feeds the water from its ‘top’ reservoir, pumping 65m3 of water per second through the system: generating an irresistible force sufficient to turn the giant turbines at 500rpm.

“One of the world’s most imaginative engineering and environmental projects”

When it was fully commissioned in 1984, Dinorwig Power Station was regarded as one of the world’s most imaginative engineering and environmental projects, with a revolutionary design that means the plant is almost entirely concealed within the mountain, making it invisible from outside. It continues to play an important part in our energy network, but hydropower has evolved significantly in the decades since Dinorwig opened, with new technology - including tidal range energy - opening up a whole new range of hydro possibilities.

Today, there are hundreds of hydropower projects in Wales and it’s a significant component in the Welsh energy mix, generating over 347GWh of electricity per year. Gwynedd remains the local authority area with the greatest number of hydropower programmes in Wales,

with 144 projects (including the 85kW Ffridd Uchaf installation) totalling 59MW. Ceredigion - which is home to Wales’ largest generator of hydropower, the 56MW Rheidol Power Station - takes pride of place as the county which boasts the greatest hydropower capacity, with just under 71MW across its 26 projects.

“A mature and proven technology that can provide a predictable source of energy”

Whilst hydropower is a mature and proven technology, it can provide a predictable source of energy. However, the lack of positive practical support is limiting future growth. The closure of the Feed-in Tariff at the end of March in 2019 - and the fact that hydropower <5MW is not presently eligible for Contracts for Difference - means that, currently, there is no existing or planned tariff support for the development of new hydropower.

The 2017 revaluation of business rates also severely impacted the sector, with many schemes operators seeing significantly disproportionate increases in their rateable value (although the Welsh Government provided grant support to the sector for payment of business rates which ended on the 1st of April this year).

Despite what appears to be something of a hydro hiatus at the moment, this reliable, proven green renewable power source remains a valuable and integral part of the Welsh energy mix; more than able to make a clear and powerful case for further investment to help meet the green energy transformation ahead.

In the 1980s Dinorwig Power Station was regarded as one of the world’s most imaginative hydro engineering projects.

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Baileys & Partners

Baileys & Partners is a bilingual family run Chartered Surveyor practice based in the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

We have an impressive resume in energy consultancy and project management and succeed by offering independent advice founded upon experience. We participate in the Natural Resources Wales Hydropower Steering Group and have attended meetings with the relevant Ministers where required to make representations alongside, and on behalf of the British Hydropower Association.

Our services include assisting private and institutional clients with planning, licensing and flood defence consent applications. We also help with private Power Purchase Agreements and have acted in an Expert Witness capacity in relation to hydropower where required. In addition we offer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services (we are RICS approved) and valuation services related to hydro and energy more generally.

British Hydropower Association

The British Hydropower Association (BHA) is the professional trade body representing the interests of the UK hydropower industry and its associated stakeholders in the wider community at regional, national and global levels. The BHA is not government-funded. Membership is open to any organisation or individual involved in or with an interest in hydropower. Members include design and consulting engineers in all disciplines, developers/owners, contractors, operators, allscale generators, equipment and component manufacturers and suppliers, project managers, financiers and investors, insurers, environmental specialists etc. The diversity of our industry and the expertise within it demonstrates that we can provide excellent supply chain solutions on a global scale.

The BHA promotes hydropower, the pioneer of renewable energy, both at home and abroad, increasing awareness of its quality and scope. The BHA has grown since its establishment as a trade association in the mid-1990s, and we have continued to move from strength to strength, raising our profile and being recognised as the leading representative of the UK hydropower industry.

Connect.

t  enquiries@baileysandpartners.co.uk www.baileysandpartners.co.uk

Connect.

e  info@british-hydro.org www.british-hydro.org

DWR Cymru Welsh Water

Welsh Water is a regulated water and sewerage company. Since 2001, it has been owned, financed and managed by Glas Cymru, a company with no shareholders and unique in the UK water sector. It provides over three million people with a continuous supply of high quality drinking water and takes away, treats and disposes of the wastewater that is produced. Hydro-generation is a natural fit for our organisation. We have several large reservoirs with hydro turbines (currently leased and operated by Infinis) and an expanding portfolio of small hydro on sites such as water treatment works and small reservoirs. Our current hydro investment includes options to extend this coverage into the water distribution and waste water networks.

H2O Power

H2O Power is a reliable partner for your hydropower development with many operating plants in Scotland, Wales and England.

H2O Power helps our partners to succeed on the most challenging of projects, offering a full range of services. We provide pre-feasibility and feasibility work, resource assessments and planning applications as well as detailed design, funding solutions and project management. We also carry out due diligence work on all our hydro schemes.

We bring our partners cost effective solutions thanks to our experienced team of engineers and consultants and offer advisory services not only to companies, but also councils or governmental organisations.

We cooperate with the RENFIN Group, an investment holding company which focuses on acquisition, development and investment into small and medium sized hydro power plants.

"We are living on the planet as if we have another one to go to."

lighting our to net zero

SOLAR Discover.

Saving the power of daylight: the rise and rise of solar

Solar is one of the most affordable and efficient zero carbon electricity generation technologies available, and its vital and increasing role in helping achieve the net zero target by 2050 in Wales is assured.

As a source of renewable energy, the harvesting of solar energy divides into two technologies: Solar PV (Photovoltaic) and thermal solar. Each uses solar panels. Solar PV captures the sun’s rays and directly converts them into electricity. Thermal solar creates heat for buildings, with sunlight being used to heat fluid - usually water and glycol - that via a heat exchanger, heats water. That heat can also be used to generate electricity.

Solar PV currently accounts for around 12% of the total renewable electricity generation in Wales - delivered through thousands of PV projects generating about 924 GWh of power.

The Welsh Government has set a target for at least 1GW of renewable energy capacity should be locally owned by 2030. Wales is doing well, having reached at least 783MW of locally owned capacity, nearly 80% of the

way to meeting the 1GW target. Solar is largely responsible. There are more than 64,000 locally owned renewable energy projects in Wales, and 83% of these are solar PV projects.

These range from pilots powering domestic fuel pumps and generating energy for active buildings, to larger scale projects like the 9,000 panel solar farm created by Flintshire County Council, which generates 3.5MWh of

The Barry Solar Array in South Wales. Developed by Associated British Ports the solar farm generates clean energy for ABP, its port tenants and the National Grid. Photo: Stephen Davies Photography

electricity per year year (enough to power 900 homes); and the Egni Coop/Newport City Council project that built the largest rooftop solar array in Wales at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome, with its 1,726 solar panels supplying more than 60% of the building’s electricity demands.

Encouraged by the introduction of the Smart Export Guarantee in 2020, which ensured electricity suppliers offer tariffs to small-scale low-carbon generators for electricity exported to the national grid, the number of smallscale generators for the grid is likely to grow - a characteristic that is changing the dynamics of the electricity system.

Solar farms

Commissioned in 2011, Western Solar’s solar park at Rhosygilwen was the first large-scale Solar PV plant in Wales, effectively creating - from an electricity perspective - a significant carbonneutral region in north Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. Its array of 1,200 photovoltaic panels generate up to 1,200 kW of electricity, enough to power 500 homes.

At 72.2 MWp, Shotwick Solar Park in Deeside, Flintshire, on an 89ha site, is the largest solar park in the UK and the largest private wire connection in Britain, supporting the operations of the UPM paper manufacturing plant and with the flexibility to export to the grid.

Falling costs and innovation in solar PV design, finance and system integration have led to subsidy-free solar farms starting to be developed, with largescale developers looking to private wire and power purchase agreements to make their projects viable.

Currently under consideration are a raft of projects across Wales. Cardiff Coun-

cil has received planning permission to turn the former Lamby Way landfill site into a solar farm the size of 20 Principality Stadium pitches. The 17ha farm will be able to power around 2,900 homes per year.

The recently announced subsidy-free Blue Eden initiative for Swansea Bay aims to create the largest floating solar array in the UK. Planned for the Queens Dock area it would capable of generating up to 5.25MWh to be used to power eco housing and operations on site, and be made available to the national grid.

In Gwent, the Penpergym Solar Farm, near Abergavenny, if approved, will supply up to 40MWp of renewable energy to the grid, equivalent to the energy needs of more than 11,000 households - 27 per cent of Monmouthshire’s homes each year.

In Cardiff’s west, the Parc Dyffryn solar farm on a 96ha site is on the drawing board. If approved it will produce 682.5 GW of electricity per year, enough to power more than 20,000 homes.

An even larger project, the 809 ha Môn Solar Farm in Anglesey, plans to have a capacity of 350MW, enough to power more than 130,000 homes a year. The solar energy produced at Môn Solar would deliver an emissions saving of 167,000 tonnes, equivalent to taking more than 35,000 fossil fuel-burning cars off the roads.

Such major projects are classed as Developments of National Significance and the Welsh Government is responsible for deciding whether they go ahead. In order to receive approval, rigorous planning procedures must be passed, taking into account the suitability of the site, and any potential impact on the locality and environment.

Inform.

Continued growth for solar is a given. There are currently more than a dozen applications for large-scale solar PV projects in the planning system in South Wales - and at least seven projects either approved or in the planning system in the north.

This pipeline demonstrates the continuing appetite for solar, despite concerns expressed at the community level over large projects.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Government’s National Development Framework 2020-2040 continues to set out a highly optimistic vision for solar, offering support in identified areas for development of large-scale solar PV, with a focus on maximising the local benefits such projects can bring.

"Solar is one of the most affordable and efficient zero carbon electricity generation technologies available."

Connect.

Grafmarine

The marine industry is looking to decarbonise and is targeting zero emissions by 2050. Grafmarine’s Nano Deck system will challenge the reliance on fossil fuels by providing an alternative source of renewable energy. Early data suggested that Grafmarine’s NanoDeck could save up to 10% of heavy marine fuel use on a tanker or bulk carrier.

By using unique, NanoDeck technology, Grafmarine will provide an integrated solar and energy electrical storage system for any flat surface to create and store energy in one small tile. NanoDeck can also be adapted to bespoke sizes and shapes and cover limitless areas. It has a management system to control the energy use and can retro fit into existing ships electronics.

Grafmarine have worked with a number of Welsh Universities and will shortly testing off the South Wales coast with the ORE Catapult. They have a technology roadmap with Manchester Graphene to increase energy creation, to provide an everincreasing source of energy into the future, eventually providing full propulsion for vessels as well as other sectors such as wind, transport and offshore structures.

Lightsource BP

Lightsource bp is a global leader in the development and management of solar energy projects, and a 50:50 joint venture with bp. Our purpose is to deliver affordable and sustainable solar power for businesses and communities around the world.

Our team includes more than 600 industry specialists, working across 15 countries. We provide a full service to our customers, from initial site selection, financing and permitting through to long-term management of solar projects.

Since 2010 we’ve developed hundreds of solar projects across the world, with a total energy capacity of 3.8GW. We are developing a pipeline of more than 20GW of solar projects globally. In September 2021 Lightsource bp set a target to develop 25GW of solar projects by 2025. This goal will be supported by a new $1.8 billion credit facility.

Our experience of more than 10 years in solar development and our global reach allow us to assess opportunities and make decisions quickly. This ability to move fast, gives us the advantage in a highly competitive market.

Penpergwm Solar Farm

Penpergwm Solar Farm Great House Energy Centre

Penpergwm Solar Farm, near Abergavenny, is being developed by Great House Energy Centre Ltd, a subsidiary of Renewable Connections Holdings Ltd and European Energy. Renewable Connections Holdings has been established by Armstrong Capital Management one of the oldest renewable energy teams in the UK which has been developing solar projects since 2010. If constructed, the Penpergwm project will generate enough electricity to power over 11,000 homes, and make a significant contribution to Welsh climate commitments.

European Energy is a Danish renewable energy company that has developed more than 1.6GW of wind and solar projects across the world. In 2019, European Energy's projects saved an estimated 358,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Our project team is committed to responding to the climate emergency in Wales and the UK by delivering low carbon projects which provide direct benefits to local people. We are committed to being a good partner with all communities in which we work to ensure our projects deliver real value to current and future generations. Public consultation on the Penpergwm Solar Farm concluded in August 2021.

Cenin Renewables

Cenin Renewables is a renewable integrated infrastucture company committed to powering a greener future. In 2021, its work in sustainable development was recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Bridgend-based Cenin, in partnership with the landowner Coedarhydyglyn Estate, is currently developing Parc Dyffryn, a combined renewable energy and biodiversity management area for the southwest of Cardiff.

Including a 96.5ha solar farm, if the project is given consent, the farm will produce 682.5GW of electricity every year, enough to power more than 20,000 local homes. Located close to the A48 - a key commuting route from the Vale of Glamorgan into Cardiff - Community Eco Parking at the project will have space for 450 cars and incorporate 200 electric vehicle charging points for the community, allowing commuters to take public transport into the centre of Cardiff. The Parc Dyffryn plan also include footpaths and cycle routes through the woodland around the site, as well as connecting to the neighbouring Dyffryn Gardens botanical gardens run by the National Trust. The project is undergoing stautory public consultation and is scheduled to submit a Development of National Significance application to the Welsh Government in spring 2022.

penpergwmsolar@renewableconnections.co.uk

e

www.cenin.co.uk Connect.

www.penpergwmsolar.co.uk

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Helping innovative Welsh businesses grow

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Identifying all qualifying projects and costs, optimising your claim to its full potential

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BIOMASS Discover. on the low carbon pathway organic fuels

Key renewable or transition technology?

People have used biomass energy - energy from living organisms - since the dawn of civilisation, when our ancestors first made wood fires for cooking and keeping warm.

Today, Biomass is the second largest source of renewable energy in the country, accounting for around 12% of the UK’s electricity - the most common biomass materials being plants, wood and waste (the so-called biomass feedstocks), with the energy from these organisms transformed into useable energy either directly - by being burned to create heat, or converted into electricity - or indirectly, by being processed into biofuel.

“ The highly diverse Biomass projects represent over twothirds of all renewable heat capacity in Wales”

In 2009 the Western Wood Energy biomass plant became the first commercial-scale power station of its kind in Wales. Built in Margam, Port Talbot, at a cost of £33m, the plant is owned by Western Bioenergy and Good Energies (a global investor in renewable energy and energy efficient industries) and burns 160,000t of clean wood every year. Generating 14MW of electricity - sufficient to power 31,000 homes in the region - Western Wood’s ‘biomass competitors’ include five biomass heat projects with a capacity over 1MW, the largest of which remains the 23MW solid biomass boiler at a wood manufacturing plant in Wrexham, commissioned in 2014. The most recent project, commissioned in 2018, is a 1.25MW solid biomass boiler in Rhondda Cynon Taf and these

five projects make up 12% of Wales’ biomass thermal capacity, with the rest of the biomass constituency consisting of a multitude of small-scale biomass projects run by households, communities and businesses across Wales.

Taken together, these highly diverse Biomass heat projects represent over two-thirds of all renewable heat capacity in Wales, generating 1,360GWh of heat (enough to meet the equivalent heat demand of approximately 108,000 homes) with a total thermal capacity of 443MW from 3,345 projects. Powys is the local authority area with the highest biomass deployment - a thermal capacity of just under 132MW across 928 projects representing just over a quarter of all biomass heat projects in Wales - with Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire sharing the next highest capacities of around 43MW each.

“A transition technology in advance of the electrification of heat?”

What future growth can we expect in the Welsh Biomass community? As an energy source it does have sustainability challenges to overcome, not least as carbon savings depend partially on the distance that biomass is transported - and the fact that deployment of biomass boilers in domestic properties (excluding log burners) is limited, with installations in less than 0.1% of Welsh homes.

There are also challenges for biomass use regarding potential local air quality impacts - with evidence on the impact of biomass to local air quality levels being detailed in the Clean Air Plan for Wales. The UK’s 2019 Clean Air Strategy has a considerable focus on biomass, including proposals to remove coal-to-biomass conversions from future Contract for Difference auctions. Despite this, a small number of new biomass electricity plants are in development, aiming to meet the tighter emissions limits and focussing on revenues from the sale of power rather than receipt of incentive payments, though time may well have run out for the long-mooted 25MW facility at Trecwm in North Pembrokeshire, where plans for development in conjunction with the Manhattan Loft Corporation have remained ‘in the air” for what seems like an eternity.

Biomass CHP and Gasification Plants

The UK Government perceives biomass as a transition technology in advance of the electrification of heat, and as a result continues to offer support under the Renewable Heat Incentive, provided sustainability criteria are met. However, tariff cuts have reduced current deployment rates, particularly affecting smaller scale projects, and the Renewable Heat Incentive is due to conclude for new projects in 2021. Despite these challenges, there is a potential long-term role for small-scale biomass projects or biomass-fuelled CHP district heating where sustainable feedstocks or waste biomass can be sourced locally.

Facilities and technologies within this category include electricity from biomass (including waste wood), biomass CHP plants and biomass

Inform.

gasification plants. There are currently 48 operating projects in Wales of these types, with a total electrical capacity of 131MWe and thermal capacity of 119 MWth. The controversial 10MWe waste-wood fired gasification plant opened in 2018 at Barry Docks in the Vale of Glamorgan is perhaps the most high-profile recent addition to this scene - though the Margam Green Energy Plant in Neath Port Talbot, commissioned in 2017, is the largest plant in this category to be installed in recent years (at 41.8MWe); with the CHP plant at Shotton Paper Mill in Flintshire retaining its position as the project with the highest total capacity at 115MW, due to having the highest thermal capacity at 90 MWth combined with an electrical capacity of 25MWe. Given continued innovation and presence, Biomass remains a core if highly disparate source of renewable energy for the foreseeable future.

12%

Today, Biomass is the second largest source of renewable energy in the country, accounting for around 12% of the UK’s electricity.

31,000

The Western Wood Energy biomass plant burns 160,000t of clean wood supplied every year, generating sufficient energy to power 31,000 homes in the region.

48

There are currently 48 operating projects in Wales, within the smallscale biomass projects or biomassfuelled CHP district heating.

Connect.

Eco2

With more than twenty years of experience in the renewable sector, Eco2 understand what it takes to deliver quality renewable projects and how to make them work and deliver to their maximum potential.

Eco2’s experience is broad, having developed projects in sectors such as landfill gas, biomass, waste and wind and as a result it has a track record for delivery across technologies that is unparalleled in the sector.

Eco2 has been able to achieve this success through a highly skilled and experienced team and a strong commitment to quality. This commitment extends to our contractors, consultants, clients and partners and we strive to deliver best-in-class assets and quality service.  As well as our own projects, Eco2 has been highly successful in partnering with developers and investors working collaboratively to ensure the shortest possible delivery timeframe and the maximum financial return.

Margam

The 40MW Margam Green Energy Plant is a £160m renewable energy power station, located near Port Talbot, South Wales. It is fuelled by waste wood.

It entered commercial operation in 2019, generating renewable electricity via the Grid for homes and businesses – the equivalent of 75,000 homes. It directly employs 30 people, and indirectly about 50 people involved in the fuel supply side of its operations.

The plant receives Grade C / Class P63 woodchip, approximately 6,000t per week. The waste wood is typically sourced from municipal collections, recycling centres, transfer stations and civic amenity recycling sites. It can also use Grade A and B waste wood.

Margam Green Energy is owned by Glennmont Partners, one of Europe’s largest fund managers focusing exclusively on investment in clean energy infrastructure. Glennmont is a part of Nuveen, the investment management arm of TIAA.

Glennmont supports the area surrounding its Margam plant through a Community Benefit Fund, which is administered by Neath Port Talbot Council. The Fund supports a range of community projects.

Natural Resource Wales

In 2020 to 2021, Natural Resource Wales made 16,000 tonnes of roadside woodfuel available to the open market in parcels sizes ranging from 25t to 3000t, as part of the continual sustainable management of the Welsh Government Woodland Estate. This is in addition to the woodfuel products harvested by our standing Sale customers across Wales.

Woodfuel is created from material that is unsuitable for products that demonstrate longer term carbon storage such as structural timber, garden products or board production. Examples of material include forest residues, hardwood thinnings and smalldiameter roundwood.

Our woodfuel products carry a mark of sustainability, and enables customers to prove Chain of Custody throughout the supply chain.

NRW supplies the biomass market with material that is converted into a range of wood fuels by our customers, such as woodchip for heating and power generation, Logs for domestic firewood, Wood pellets, or compressed wood briquettes

PBE Fuels LTD –Pembrokeshire

We have been involved in Biomass since 2002 with the aim to focus on the emerging renewable energy industry. Initially we focused on Miscanthus – elephant grass - as a source of biomass fuel, and then expanded into wood chip production and wood pellet distribution.

At present we are supplying 20,000 tonnes of wood fuel annually which approximately replaces 9 million litres of oil equivalent, reducing CO2 by 33,000 tonnes.

Our aim is to create a successful circular rural economy, reducing fuel miles, creating local jobs and producing local heat for the off grid, hard to heat homes and businesses. We use wood residue to create our wood chip fuel from local sources. supporting sustainable forestry, with woodland creation and management, aiding our net-zero target ambitions and reducing the Welsh and UK reliance on fossil fuels.

Our sister company PBESCO LTD installs, maintains and services biomass heating systems. We aim to keep customers biomass systems operating as efficiently as possible. We offer a wealth of advice and support to people with biomass.

enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk www.naturalresources.wales

"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."

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Achieving net zero is crucial to the long-term success of our customers, our communities and our economy, writes NatWest Group chief executive Alison Rose.

As we continue to emerge from the most challenging and disruptive period in recent memory, and as societies reopen and economies rebuild, leaders across the world are grappling with the same era-defining challenge; to ensure a more sustainable, resilient and greener path is forged.

The remarkable scale and success of the vaccination programmes hold the key to our recovery, but they also serve as powerful examples of what can be achieved.

The COP26 summit in Glasgow, already a vital part of our journey to a greener economy, has been made all the more urgent. We can expect a range of new policies and commitments to emerge and achieving net zero will quite rightly be at the heart of these ambitions.

Banks such as NatWest have a significant role to play. Not only in getting our own houses in order but in helping our customers make the transition and, in so doing, supporting a green recovery. Which is why, last year, we committed to halving the climate impact of our financing activity by 2030 and why we intend to join the growing coalition of organisations in the Race to Zero, championed by the UK COP26 presidency and others.

This is not just the right thing to do; it is fundamental to delivering a sustainable future for any business.

This is not just the right thing to do; it is fundamental to delivering a sustainable future for any business. By building longterm relationships with our customers and supporting them at every stage of their lives, we will build long-term value in our bank and drive sustainable returns for shareholders.

The debate about the role of finance in tackling climate change is often concentrated on shifting investment from 'bad' companies to 'good' ones, typically moving money out of fossil fuels and into renewables.

And rightly so, up to a point. Last year, NatWest provided £12bn of funding and

financing for climate and sustainable finance, including for projects such as Dogger Bank, the world's largest offshore windfarm. We reduced our exposure to oil and gas by almost sixteen percent, having announced that we will stop lending to major oil and gas producers if they don't have Paris-aligned plans in place by the end of 2021. And we are partnering with innovative companies such as Octopus Energy, which will make it easier for customers to own an electric car.

But the reality is more complicated. If banks simply stopped financing businesses and industries that have the biggest climate impact, the economy couldn't react quickly enough.

There are no quick-fix solutions. We are focused on working alongside our customers - from individuals to the largest corporations - to help put in place credible plans that will allow them to thrive as we transition to a low carbon economy.

But even measuring your own climate impact is much easier said than done. This is as true for banks as it is for anyone else.

We achieved net zero for our own operations last year and are aiming to be net positive by 2025. But quantifying the impact of our £800bn balance sheet, with lending that touches every part of

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the economy, is far more of a challenge. This is a major priority and we have now estimated emissions across four key sectors that collectively account for almost half of our total lending and investment balances - oil and gas extraction, automotive manufacturing and agriculture sectors as well as residential mortgage properties. But there is still more work to be done.

Many of our business customers tell us that tackling carbon emissions is the hardest problem to find external support for. As a result, we have announced that we are collaborating with Microsoft to help companies to measure their own carbon footprint and take steps to reduce it.

And for our personal customers, we have launched a pilot with the fintech app, CoGo, allowing them to track their carbon footprint in real time through their spending transactions.

Those who act now can benefit from savings in energy bills and reduced running costs for their cars. They can increase the value of their homes and secure the longterm viability of their businesses, making them more attractive for both investors and consumers.

But meaningful progress requires a collective will and focused action from governments, regulators, businesses and individuals across the world. This is more than an opportunity; it is a necessity.

Achieving net zero is crucial to the longterm success of our customers, our communities and our economy. And if they succeed, so will we.

Natwest pledges £100bn of climate and sustainable funding and financing

A report published by NatWest sets out the potential opportunity that exists for the UK economy from the transition to netzero, finding that SMEs could create up to 130,000 new jobs, produce around 30,000 new businesses and result in an estimated £160 billion opportunity for the UK economy. The report finds that there is a significant opportunity for the UK to be a global leader in the transition to net-zero.

The report also found that the UK’s 6 million Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can achieve 50% of the UK’s Net Zero decarbonisation goals, if they receive the right support through funding, knowledge, and training.

NatWest has announced a series of initiatives, leading with a target to provide £100 billion of Climate and Sustainable Funding and Financing (CSFF) by the end of 2025. Part of this new CSFF target will help to support the investment needed to transition the UK to a net zero economy and will help to support the bank’s customers including SMEs on their transition to a net zero and a more sustainable economy .

This marks an acceleration in NatWest’s ambition to support UK decarbonisation and the Government’s Net Zero Strategy, in-line with the 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. The report and its associated initiatives are intended to

support the efforts to halve the bank’s financed emissions by 2030 and meet the net zero targets by 2050, in line with its commitments as a founding member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance.

While the report’s finding that less than 10% of SMEs currently see climate action as a source of future growth, it found that SMEs have two distinct opportunities to create value from delivering climate action: driving business value by reducing their own emissions and unlocking growth through wider climate action. With the right support, the vast majority of SMEs could benefit financially from reducing their carbon footprint, and through supporting the UK’s transition by delivering activity like residential retrofitting, installing renewable power equipment, upgrades to the electricity grid and installing electric vehicle charge points.

The report calls on financial institutions, government, industry bodies and large corporates to play their role in collectively supporting SMEs to unlock the climate opportunity.

NatWest also plans to launch a new green loan product for SME customers, new specialist Accelerators for Clean Transport and Circular Economy, new tools for businesses to monitor their carbon footprint, and mandatory climate training for all its relationship managers in collaboration with University of Cambridge and University of Edinburgh.

The report makes six clear recommendations where SMEs need most support to achieve effective transition:

1. Funding Access

Financing that reflects the societal benefit of delivering climate action and ensures that business initiatives and investments make financial sense.

2. Awareness

Support to recognise the opportunity from climate action, highlighting key skills required to transition successfully.

3. Knowledge

Help to reduce their impact and improve their ability to measure and report their impact.

4. Skills and capabilities

Support to develop new skills to deliver transition, such as training employees, achieving accreditations and certification, and management capabilities.

5. Market access

Improved financial certainty of the benefits of broader climate action.

6. Navigation

Support to navigate the complex and evolving landscape, understanding what support is available and what will most benefit their business.

The full report can be found here: natwestbusinesshub.com

COP Cymru

The climate is changing and so must Wales.

COP Cymru is an opportunity for all of us to help shape Wales’ future. The series of events, which started on 28 October and will continue until 26 November, will allow people across Wales to engage in important conversations about climate change.

COP Cymru is focussing on the national mission to make the 2020s a ‘decade of climate action’ and lay the foundations for a Net Zero Wales.

It kicked off with the launch of the new Net Zero Wales Plan by Welsh Ministers on 28 October. Held at the Solar Heat Energy Demonstrator building near Port Talbot, the Welsh Government’s five-year plan of action was outlined, explaining its role in shaping future climate action and emphasising the importance of working together to help deliver the ambition.

But that’s not all. As COP26 continues in Glasgow, four COP26 virtual Regional Roadshow events are being filmed and broadcast in Wales. These are:

• Energy Transition

• Nature-Based Solutions

• Adaptation & Resilience

• Clean Transport

The events have been shaped by people and organisations from across Wales, highlighting examples of best practice and helping to start important conversations around the key COP themes.

The COP Cymru programme concludes with Wales Climate Week: a Wales-wide conversation on how we can tackle the climate emergency, taking place online, from 22 to 26 November. The five-day

programme of virtual events - each day focusing on a different theme – will explore Wales’ contribution to the global challenge of combating climate change and attempt to answer key questions, such as how we can use nature to manage climate risks and how everyone can make a contribution to achieving a net zero Wales.

Get involved

All COP Cymru events are broadcast live on the COP Cymru event platform, through a Live Content page, and recordings are made available via the on-demand section of the site shortly after each event. To find out more, or register for an event, visit

www.freshwater.eventscase.com/ EN/COPCymru21

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”

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CARDIFF CAPITAL REGION

Shaping the plan to action our energy vision and strategy

In February this year, we began the Cardiff Capital Region decarbonisation and sustainability journey in earnest, unveiling our Energy Vision and Strategy: a pioneering partnership between CCR and the Welsh Government Energy Service (WGES), dedicated to transforming the way energy is generated, transported and utilised in Southeast Wales – focused on making the step changes that are essential to meeting our zero carbon targets by 2050. Those changes will affect every aspect of our lives, with Kellie Beirne, Director of Cardiff Capital Region City Deal, seeing this transformation as a major part of enhancing health and wellbeing in every community across the region, as well as supporting a just transition to a clean growth economy that protects the environment for future generations, with Kellie emphasising that:

“the options and choices put in front of us have been stark and there’s a consensus across the region that decisions need to be made now.”

The emerging plan will scope the Implementation Priorities for the region.

The plan emerging from those decisions will scope the first ‘Implementation Priorities’ for the region, recognising the interlinked characteristics of climate crisis, historic low growth plus the impetus to build back better – and greener. Much of that plan has already been reflected in the ‘requirements and results’ embedded in the CCR Prosperity for our Place investment prospectus, which showcased the potential for a transformative programme of activity that offers according to Huw David (the CCR Regional Cabinet Board Member responsible for the environment, air quality and sustainable transport):

“the opportunity to build upon the region’s unique natural energy generating assets – and use the strength of our existing manufacturing base as a springboard for a transition to a hydrogen economy, with the creation of multiple Clean Growth hubs.”

We have the potential to create 75,000 jobs and a £7.2bn uplift in GVA across CCR.

The BEIS sub-regional data for 2019 gives credence to Huw David’s cautious optimism – showing the potential for decarbonisation to create 75,000 jobs and a £7.2bn uplift in Gross Value Add across CCR. How can such dramatic economic growth be achieved? The answer lies in the fact that our region uses 33 terawatt hours each year through heat, electricity, transport and fuel. To put this in perspective, Mid Wales uses 5 terawatt hours –showing in sharp relief the hive of economic and consumer activity across CCR. Only one sixth of this activity comes from renewable energy (predominantly electricity) and the task of decarbonising the remaining five sixths (at a cost of £8.2 billion) would create those extra jobs and that increased GVA.

Pillars for an actionable plan

To meet the declared targets, CCR needs a 55% reduction in emissions from its energy system by 2035 – achievable through a combination of a 51% decrease in domestic heat and power, a 54% reduction in commercial and industrial sectors and a 60% reduction in road transport emissions.

An actionable plan is currently in the process of being created to achieve these targets, with key potential pillars already in place, including:

Our new CCR Investment Prospectus – Prosperity for our Place:

Containing proposals centred on domestic and commercial retrofit, hydrogen generation and harnessing tidal power.

A Challenge Funded Energy Mission:

CCR has successfully pioneered an innovative Challenge Fund approach that responds directly to problems posed by societal and behavioural factors – and has the ‘proven template’ to develop an Energy Mission capable of addressing a myriad of energy challenges.

Alignment with UK Government’s 10-Point Plan:

UK Government’s recent “10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution” offers CCR the opportunity to align with wider R&D and Infrastructure investments, in the spirit of using low carbon energy as an enabler of economic regeneration, to generate ‘clean’ regional income that protects our environment.

Innovation:

New low carbon energy technologies are emerging at a rapid pace –enabling us to benefit communities across CCR, through programmes such as the Smart Living Initiative and the Welsh Government Demonstrator ‘place-based and needs-led’ projects

that can position us as a ‘catalyst of change’, particularly in low-carbon transportation.

Building Back Better:

Already one of the key ‘5 for 5’ priority areas for CCR, our ‘Build Back Better’ objectives place a strong emphasis on embedding energy imperatives into our activity plans.

Evolution towards a CJC:

Our move towards regional economic governance naturally opens up opportunities for regional public investment on a wider scale, for R&D, Infrastructure, the new Shared Prosperity Fund, and the £12bn Green Industrial Revolution Fund and for a revised Industrial Strategy.

Transport Strategy:

Our MetroPlus. LEV Taxi Strategy, £1.3m ULEV procurement, regional electric bus feasibility study and other local transport programmes all contain an element of carbon reduction and core energy development.

Continual Engagement:

Changing behaviours take continual communication and convincing engagement – and our wide-ranging engagement strategy will continue to focus on developing data-based evidence that the CCR Energy Vision will produce greater GVA and net jobs than a BAU scenario.

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Rob O'Dwyer Head of Infrastructure for CCR outlines some of the actions that have taken place since the Energy Vision and Strategy for CCR was agreed:

“Working in partnership with WGES and the Carbon Trust, we’ve spent the past 18 months or so collating a huge amount of data and have created a Strategic Steering Group selected from individuals across the region, representing organisations such as the South Wales Industrial Cluster and Natural Resources Wales as well as the local authorities, to review all the information we now have at our fingertips” explains Rob. “This steering group will oversee the development and implementation of our strategy. Beyond that, we have also established four critical streams underpinning the steering group –consisting of experts in the Transport, Industrial & Commercial, Renewables and Domestic sectors – and we’re now in the process of aligning our top-down strategic analysis with bottom-up reporting on the activity currently happening on the ground in both the public and private sector.”

A Strategic Steering Group informed by experts in Transport, Industrial & Commercial, Renewables and Domestic sectors

“We’re currently running a series of thematic workshops in each of the four streams to identify the pathways forward and the long lists of actions and interventions that will help us to achieve our shared vision. Those actions may include traditional capital projects and programmes, but could also identify a need for further R&D, project development, education programmes, supply chain development or lobbying for policy change. It’s our intention to pull all of this together in a coherent, costed, and joined-up plan of action for Southeast Wales capable of attracting appropriate levels of investment.”

We need an initial £8.6bn investment to reach our 2035 goals

“Ultimately, our plan will involve a series of interventions to ensure we are on track to reduce emissions from our energy system by 55% by 2035 and net-zero by 2050.

“An £8.6 billion spend will be required to achieve our energy vision by 2035. This cost will be offset by the potential for more than 70,000 jobs being created in the electricity and heating sectors and over £7 billion additional GVA. In order to prepare a plan of this magnitude we’ll be working in partnership with Flexis Wales, a university collaboration which will provide capacity around early R&D in the region and demonstrator zones.

“There are immediate opportunities of course, some of which had already been scoped in our detailed Energy Prospectus and in the wider CCR Investment Prospectus - Prosperity for our Place. We’ve launched our Decarbonisation-themed Challenge Fund, focused on creating a centralised carbon-neutral fleet for all ten local authorities; and we are working with local authority partners, Cardiff University and the Knowledge Transfer Network to scope many more challenge led propositions. These Challenges are fertile ways to produce innovative solutions with maximum benefits, with the opportunity to quickly scale up a solution once it’s proven.”

Immediate energy implementation priorities are currently being informed by continued support from the Welsh Government Energy Service, Carbon Trust, CCR Energy Steering Group and partners such as Flexis and CS Connected. Early opportunities are focussed on:

Decarbonisation of Transport:

Metro Plus, Metro Central, CCR ULEV and ‘try before you buy’ schemes, role of InFuSe in building innovation capacity within public services and the LEV Fleet Challenge and potential around a hydrogen demonstrator fund;

Commercial and Industrial Decarbonisation:

Energy provision for R&D Clusters, development of the STEP Fusion Nuclear Prototype Project, developing the region’s capacity for a Gigaplant and supporting the work of SWIC;

Domestic

Preparing a business case in application-format for the scoping of a region-wide Optimised Domestic Retro-fit Programme and utilising the local wealth building challenge fund to develop the private sector domestic retro-fit proposal;

Renewable Energy

Developing the framework for local energy generation schemes and support for the WG-PIN notice for tidal development projects which could link to many of the wider initiatives set out above.

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“we’re having very encouraging conversations in other channels too, regarding opportunities for local supply chains to meet the demand for offshore wind power generation in the Celtic Sea; as well as the possibility of Bridgend College becoming a centre for a green economy skills curriculum – and we’ve also teamed-up with the Vale of Glamorgan to explore opportunities for a green energy park and digital Gigaplant for the region. It’s this type of thinking which is now needed to grasp all the opportunities on offer”

A CCR Energy Agency may be the next key evolution

“Above all, we need to quickly identify the next stage of governance structure, to both embed a regional energy strategy and make it happen” stresses Rob. “We don’t quite know exactly what it will look like right now, but we have benchmarked across the UK and had many illuminating conversations, especially with Manchester, where they have put a bespoke Energy Agency in place to deliver everything.

A CCR Energy Agency that takes responsibility for both high level strategy and the operational chalk-face delivery across all four streams, could well be the next key evolution.”

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Making our homes energy-fit for the future

In July 2019 the Decarbonisation of Homes in Wales Advisory Group reported that 750,000 homes in southeast Wales were responsible for 27% of all energy consumed across CCR.

Their report stated that the CCR has some of “the oldest and least thermally efficient housing stock in Europe” - and recommended a 30-year ‘decarbonisation’ of homes across the region by 2050, with every property meeting the ‘climate-resilient’ standards of being low carbon, water and energy efficient; and all housing stock retro-fitted to attain a band A energy rating by the mid-century landmark.

“750,000 homes are responsible for 27% of all energy consumed across CCR"

With policy experts at the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) predicting that CCR could meet all of its energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2035 (through a blend of electricity and hydrogen produced by solar, offshore wind, tidal power, hydropower, geothermal and fusion energy) as well as creating thousands of new jobs and billions of pounds of extra GVA to the region, the domestic energy transformation can’t come quickly enough.

So what will the forthcoming domestic refit ‘look like’ - will there be a solar panel on every roof, a heat pump and smart meter in

every home and a private electric vehicle charging point in every property? How will this refit be rolled-out to ensure that every home has low-carbon sources of heating and high levels of home energy efficiency? And what is the blend of green energy that will power our homes in the 21st century? Some of the above is already apparent, some still open to refinement, but this much we already know…

“CCR could meet all of its energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2035"

Heat Pumps are one of the most obvious replacements, using a refrigerant to absorb the natural heat that can be found in the ground, air or water. This refrigerant is compressed to further increase the temperature, which can then be used to heat the cold water in the system - before being pumped to our radiators or supplied to our hot water taps. Heat pumps work solely by using electricity, which can be generated from renewable sources that don’t directly produce any carbon emissions - and can even generate excess energy that can be sold back to the National Grid.

Hydrogen-ready Boilers

Many argue that solar energy and heat pumps will not be sufficient to power every home in the UK - and hydrogen-ready boilers are seen as the most viable alternative to

the present fossil-fuel systems, as they can make use of the existing infrastructure and engineers (with a price point that is likely to remain competitive). The first homes with hydrogen boilers in the UK commenced build in April this year (in Gateshead) and from next year (in Fife, Scotland), hydrogen appliances will be trialled in over 300 homes fed with hydrogen gas directly from the National Grid.

“Fully decarbonised eco-systems are being trialled and tested on a wider scale"

With heat pumps, hydrogen boilers and the whole spectrum of renewable energies emerging on the horizon, a number of collaborations are trialling and testing fully decarbonised ecosystems on a wider scale…

Active Buildings

The Active Building Centre is a joint project between Swansea University and a number of pioneering organisations, using active building technologies to transform how buildings use energy, turning them from energy consumers into energy providers. The centre has secured a £36 million investment through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s (ISCF) Transforming Construction Challenge Programme - and has already successfully piloted beautifully designed homes and comfortable workspaces, powered by self-generated clean

energy that makes energy bills and carbon emissions a thing of the past, integrating renewable technologies for heat, power and transport (and when connected with other Active Buildings in a network, even possessing the ability to trade energy as part of a circular economy).

Hydrogen-blended Heat for Housing

Hoare Lea, Pobl and Ynni Glan are currently working together to develop an apartment complex for older people in Newport, South Wales - exploring options to blend hydrogen with natural gas to reduce emissions from the onsite heating system. This pilot is part of the UK programme to deliver the Prime Minister’s target of blending up to 20% hydrogen into Britain’s gas network from 2023, so that Britain’s homes can reduce their carbon emissions by the equivalent of 2.5 million cars

a year - achieved without anyone having to change their household appliances.

Smart Local Energy Systems

The Milford Haven Energy Kingdom project is exploring what a decarbonised smart local energy system could look like for the Milford Haven Waterway - including the potential of hydrogen as part of a multi-vector approach to decarbonisation. The local energy system is being designed to put local communities and industry at the centre of the project - achieving a net-zero target through local renewable energy (solar, onshore wind, future offshore wind and biomass) and diversified markets for hydrogen across heat, power, transport and industry sectors.

This two year project will run until 2022, creating investable propositions - and including the

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demonstration of hydrogen-ready features and technologies such as a hybrid heat pump and hydrogenready boiler demo for heating (as well as a hydrogen vehicle refuelling station for Riversimple’s fuel cell RASA cars), allowing people to test real-world hydrogen heating equipment and vehicles, using a comprehensive energy systems architecture.

Building the Gas Goes Green Pathway

Wales & West Utilities has commenced its work programme for the Energy Networks Association (ENA) Gas Goes Green Programme in 2021 - a six-step programme making the changes necessary to convert Britain’s £24bn of gas network infrastructure to run on hydrogen and biomethane instead, without the need for people to change their household appliances. Biomethane alone could deliver a 6% reduction in the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, providing heating for 6.4 million homes.

The initial Planning & Research step is moving towards the second step - Facilitating the Connection of More Green Gas - which includes putting in place the right licensing arrangements to build the infrastructure through Britain’s industrial heartlands, blending 20% of hydrogen into the domestic gas network by 2023 (as detailed in our earlier Newport pilot) - and boosting biomethane production by creating more space for farmers and other biomethane producers, by converting existing biogas power plants and streamlining the gas grid connection process for biomethane and hydrogen.

The milestones being met for a decarbonised transport infrastructure

Rob O'Dwyer Head of Infrastructure for CCR

With a ULEV transport strategy that includes the revolutionary MetroPlus network, a pioneering LEV Taxi plan and an ambitious £4.8m ULEV programme for 2021/22, Cardiff Capital Region’s journey towards a decarbonised transport infrastructure is well under way.

The planned electric vehicle infrastructure for use by public vehicles, taxis and buses will integrate transport hubs across the region - and Rob O’Dwyer, Head of Infrastructure for CCR, has been at the heart of this multidisciplinary activity.

In a highly-encouraging update, Rob reveals the landmark progress being made in moving from deeply detailed planning stages to the physical rollout of projects that will transform transport across the region…

“September saw the CCR Cabinet and Regional Transport Authority endorse the latest developments in rolling out a unified ULEV strategy across southeast Wales - including our provision for the new ultra low emission vehicle infrastructure, with 34 50kw dual chargers at 31 sites for

taxi use due to be completed by the end of this year” explains Rob. “In fact, some of these have already been commissioned and are usable right now - so people can expect to see ‘the future’ appearing all around them in the next few months."

“People will begin to see ‘the future’ appearing all around them in the next few months"

“The ‘Try Before You Buy Scheme’ for our Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) Taxis will soon be launched, encouraging taxi drivers to transition to 100% electric, wheel-chair accessible vehicles. We have 44 Nissan Dynamo vehicles available to be utilised for a

three year trial, that will be operated by an independent management company.

We’re also seeing real progress being made on our public charging infrastructure, with a contract currently being awarded to deliver c.640 7kW and 22kW chargers at 159 sites for the public to use. We’ve also set up an All Wales procurement framework for other public sectors to utilise to enable them to provide electric charging infrastructure quickly.

In terms of our proposed bus charging infrastructure, we have already prepared the new award winning Merthyr Bus Station by installing the cabling and associated electric meters, along with enhancing the sub-station for the charging units to be provided in the future, and have identified a further fifteen sites across the region with a bid already submitted to the Welsh Government to enable delivery in the futureand we’re currently investigating the feasibility of aligning a school transport fleet and the public bus network, as well as conducting some public fleet challenges to get a deeper understanding of the opportunities for Council owned fleets.

“Furthermore, we’re also assessing the viability of CCR purchasing an electric car fleet that can then be made available to the public through car clubs, managed by an independent management company, making it more economical for the public to transition to using electric cars, reducing the need for families to own second cars, and offering the option to use public transport for part of the journey and an electric vehicle for the rest. Our vision for a decarbonised integrated transport network is becoming a reality - and we’re transitioning as quickly as we can in our race for net zero.”

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The pathway for developing our hydrogen energy sector

Wales as a country can lay claim to a special place in the hydrogen economy, with the fuel cell being invented in 1842 by none other than William Grove of Swansea.

Sir William may have been underwhelmed by our reliance on coal, oil and gas over the past 180 years – and he would also probably have to accept that the 2050 picture of a decarbonised economy is likely to be composed of a blend of energies working in harmony to meet the many needs of individuals, communities, industries and infrastructures. But one thing is for sure: low carbon hydrogen will undoubtedly be a

significant feature in that picture, with its potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions increasingly being recognised by Governments around the world.

CCR has already begun the H2 journey - as home to pioneering proposals for hydrogen to be deployed as the fuel cells for cars, buses and trains in our region. And indeed, Southeast Wales may well be at the forefront of creating an early market for hydrogenpowered energy, developing ‘placebased’ hydrogen opportunities across the region as well as taking a lead in the essential domestic refit of all homes, ready to be fuelled by this clean and sustainable energy.

The Proposed Hydrogen Pathway

This hydrogen pathway for CCR and the rest of Wales is built around ten key objectives, each aimed at generating momentum in the Welsh hydrogen sector and laying the foundations for scale-up and commercial deployment from the end of the 2020s.

The objectives cover both hydrogen supply and end use, focusing on short-term opportunities where the commercial case is more developed, with areas of activity that include:

1. Deployment of 200 fuel cell buses in a town, city or region in Wales. Fuel cell buses have already been trialled across the UK and the technology is ready for deployment in larger fleets, which will benefit from economies of scale. This initiative will create a consistent demand for lowcarbon hydrogen and help CCR and Wales meet its target for all buses to be zero-emission by 2028.

2. Establishing CCR and Wales as an early market for commercial fuel cell vehicles.

Hydrogen fuel cell vans and trucks are at an earlier stage of development than buses, but initiatives to coordinate demand for them are already underway at a UK level. These include plans to develop standard specifications for vehicles which can be purchased at a scale which will attract vehicle manufacturers to bring fuel cell vans and trucks to the UK market. Engaging with these initiatives will

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help bring zero-emission vans and trucks to our region sooner and prepare for large-scale commercial deployments.

3. Supporting vehicle manufacturers such as Riversimple, a Monmouthshire-based designer and manufacturer of fuel cell electric vehicles.

This revolutionary company is developing a two-seater hydrogen fuel cell car and is looking for a number of ‘local’ sites to manufacture the vehicle from 2022/23.

4. Attracting vehicle integrators to Wales.

There’s currently a lack of fuel cell vehicle options offered by vehicle manufacturers – providing an opportunity for vehicle integrators who can convert existing diesel or battery electric vehicles into hydrogen dual fuel or fuel cell range-extender vehicles. Hydrogen performs better as a fuel in mountainous topography, while electricity scores higher on more even terrain - so coordinating demands for such vehicles where pure battery electric is not suitable, within the Welsh public sector fleets, would send a clear signal to the market of the potential for orders at a sufficient scale to attract vehicle integrators to establish bases in our region, leading to valuable job opportunities.

5. Deploying fuel cell trains. Replacing diesel trains with hydrogen fuel cell trains would provide a

decarbonisation solution for our region. This is central to our Passenger Rail Vision, with future rolling stock orders compatible with the UK Government’s target to decommission diesel-only trains by 2040.

6. Establishing at least one renewable hydrogen production site of 10+ MW by 2023/24

The business case for local renewable hydrogen production can be developed if there’s sufficient demand for low-carbon hydrogen from the transport sector – presenting Wales with the opportunity for one or more 10 MW hydrogen production sites.

7. Scoping large-scale hydrogen production sites.

Hydrogen provides a route to decarbonisation for many difficultto-decarbonise sectors – and given the time required to develop hydrogen production at scale, there’s a need to begin planning low carbon/ renewable hydrogen production and delivery facilities in parallel with the deployment of the initial smaller scale facilities.

8. Supporting industrial decarbonisation through skills development and R&D.

There’s a need for further research and development into how our industrial clusters can best decarbonise –and how to bridge the skills gap for industrial fuel switching and the wider scale use of hydrogen as a fuel for industry. This presents an opportunity

for our region to develop industrial decarbonisation expertise – and export those skills and associated training to other industrial clusters. As David Jukes, Programme Development Director of Costain Group plc and a leading figure in the South Wales Industrial Cluster asserts: “We can either decarbonise or be decarbonised”, with the former option presenting major multi-billionpound economic advantages for Cardiff Capital Region.

9. Supporting local projects and place-based approaches. Developing hydrogen projects creates opportunities to engage with the wider community through the place-based and challenge fund philosophy of CCR – helping bring a more inclusive prosperity to a greater number of communities in our region.

10. On-going engagement with other hydrogen initiatives. There’s a range of existing hydrogen initiatives which will further develop the hydrogen sector in our region, bringing opportunities to attract investment in manufacturing/assembly plants for hydrogen-fuelled appliances, taking advantage of the existing skills base and supporting the growth of indigenous SMEs as they diversify into hydrogen activities throughout the value chain.

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Realising The Hydrogen Vision Across Our Region

The overall level of real-world trials and deployment of hydrogen in energy applications in our region and Wales as a whole remains relatively low. The hydrogen energy sector is not yet fully commercialised, with most projects established over the past five to ten years typically relying heavily on public funding.

The race to zero by 2050 is the catalyst that is about to change all that – and South Wales is home to a significant number of organisations with an interest and expertise in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, including academic and research centres, large industrial organisations and innovative start-up companies. There have been several pre-commercial demonstration projects involving hydrogen in energy applications in Wales over many years, and the pipeline of potential opportunities has expanded significantly in recent months – with the range of projects and the depth of existing hydrogen experience providing a solid foundation for further development of energy applications.

Collaborations between SMEs, academia and industrial clusters are critical

The Cardiff Capital Region has built an enviable reputation for its worldleading hydrogen research and development projects and facilities, with the Gas Turbine at Cardiff University and the Hydrogen Centre of the University of South Wales conducting wide-ranging research into hydrogen and related fields. The region is also home to SMEs such as Riversimple and Huxtec (the Newbridge-based engineering consultancy focused on sustainability and low-carbon technologies, with a particular emphasis on hydrogen fuel cells).

The recent establishment of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), the Hydrogen Reference Group (set up by the Welsh Government) and HyCymru (the trade association for the Welsh hydrogen economy) will only increase the collaborations, knowledge share and innovation within our region in this burgeoning sector – especially as our region also benefits from expertise in the safe generation, storage, transport, and use of hydrogen (mainly as an industrial gas), which together with a strong

oil and gas presence, provides a core skills base that can be redeployed towards emerging hydrogen activities at scale, giving our region a further competitive advantage in the rapidly expanding hydrogen economy. An allWales approach that connects rural and marine resources with urban populations and industrial areas.

While real-world deployment of hydrogen technologies is sparse, there’s much on-going work exploring the role of hydrogen in meeting Wales’ net zero target and on feasibility studies seeking to develop further technology trials and deployment. Such feasibility studies are not confined to the Cardiff Capital Region with activities in North, Mid, West and South Wales all identified for their high potential. There’s excellent scope, therefore, to develop an all-Wales approach which connects Wales’ plentiful rural and marine resources with end-use hydrogen applications across our urban areas of population and industry. Wales’ small size, strong infrastructure of networks and ports, established skills base and readily available internal markets can provide a platform for deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, bringing both regional and pan-Wales benefits.

“If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.”

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AMBITION NORTH WALES

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A few words by Ambition North Wales’ Portfolio Director, Alwen Williams:

In March this year, we adopted an ambitious position with regards to carbon emissions and biodiversity, becoming the first signed Growth Deal to commit to delivering to net zero emissions and have a positive effect on biodiversity.

This means that when the projects become operational, they will not create more greenhouse gas emissions than they remove from the atmosphere. Recognising the risk that the construction of these projects could drive emissions through energy used in manufacturing construction materials such as concrete and steel, we aim to reduce these emissions by

at least 40% compared to standard construction methods.

These commitments are ahead of UK and Welsh Governments' decarbonisation pathways, which commit to new buildings being net zero by 2030 and respectively 2050, and mean that infrastructure delivered through the Growth Deal will be future-ready.

By doing this, we are preparing well to deliver a greener, more sustainable North Wales for the future.

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About us

Ambition North Wales drives to transform the economy and build a prosperous, connected, resilient, smart and sustainable region. We are working to deliver the North Wales Growth Deal, a £1bn investment through a portfolio of innovative projects which have been developed with the future in mind.

Our vision:

“For North Wales to be: A confident, cohesive region with sustainable economic growth, capitalising on the success of high value economic sectors and its connection to the economies of the Northern Powerhouse and Ireland.”

Why Invest?

The region offers competitive costs, beautiful landscapes, skilled people and much more.

North Wales has unlimited potential to offer a unique and rewarding proposition for investors. Our people are skilled, resilient, results driven and loyal. We are large enough to make an impact but small and connected enough as a region to be dynamic and adapt quickly to learn new skills for the future. We have pride in our heritage, culture, language and environment and are welcoming to people and opportunities. This, along with the continued investment in our economy, makes North Wales the ideal location to invest.

Location:

North Wales is an integral part of the United Kingdom:

• Easily accessed from the North West of England, within 2hrs by road or rail from Manchester.

• Maximum 3hrs direct rail ride away from London.

• Closely located to Ireland with regular ferry links.

• Road network connecting the region.

• Population: over 700,000.

Delivery of the vision will be powered by high value economic programmes throughout North Wales.

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The North Wales Growth Deal:

The Growth Deal is a £1 billion investment for North Wales. Creating up to 4,200 jobs and increasing the region’s net additional GVA by up to £2.5billion by 2036.

The deal is a portfolio of innovative and transformative projects, working together to build a connected, resilient, smart and sustainable region, improving North Wales’ economic, social and environmental wellbeing.

The Projects:

Robyn Lovelock Programme Manager for both Agrifood and Tourism and Innovation in High Value Manufacturing

Robyn started her role for Ambition North Wales in September 2020, following 20 years of working nationally and internationally in specialist areas such as Economic and Supply Chain Development. Before her current role, Robyn worked as a consultant and led a range of tourism, food and agriculture initiatives across North East Wales.

Agrifood and Tourism

Glynllifon Rural Economy Hub:

A distinctive, world-class Rural Economy Hub on the Glynllifon estate near Caernarfon, offering a range of facilities and services to strengthen opportunities within the region’s expanding food and drink sector. The Hub will offer units for regional start-ups or businesses that are expanding, supported by an onsite knowledge centre, offering practical experience to support innovation and enterprise growth.

Tourism Talent Network:

The Tourism Talent Network will stimulate public-private collaboration to coordinate and accelerate action on skills and product development, to ensure tourism and hospitality meet regional economic, social and

environmental aspirations. The project will future-proof skills provision and increase commercial benefits from one of the most established sectors in the region.

Llysfasi Net Zero Farm:

Through a purpose-built facility on the college campus, the Llysfasi net-zero farm, will enable practical training in cutting-edge technologies and land management approaches that reduce emissions and enhance biodiversity. The investment will help lead North Wales to a resilient future where carbon neutral land management and a developing renewable energy sector support sustainable, thriving and healthy regional communities.

Innovation in High Value Manufacturing

The Centre for Environmental Biotechnology

Investment in the centre will lead the discovery and characterisation of novel extremophilic enzymes of industrial relevance, attracting world-leading researchers, significant public and commercial research funding, and inward investment to North Wales.

The project also aims to draw companies in the biocatalysis sector to North Wales to take advantage of clustering and agglomeration benefits the regions offers due to its well-established specialism in bioengineering.

Stuart Whitfield Digital Connectivity Programme Manager

Stuart has been in his current role for Ambition North Wales since late 2019. His previous experience includes working in a range of sectors such as; Economic Development, Business Support, Chemical & Electrical technologies and rural developments.

Enterprise Engineering and Optics Centre:

The centre will deliver state-of-theart facilities in optics, photonics and composite materials to support greater uptake of lightweighting and precision engineering for SME's and large businesses within transport, energy and other sectors as part of regional and national decarbonisation efforts.

The project will drive innovation, development and commercialisation to create jobs and boost regional GVA and investment.

Digital Connectivity

Connected Campuses:

The project will establish network coverage at a selection of priority sites in North Wales to provide new and existing businesses access to a variety of relevant and valuable connectivity options

Connectivity options for the industry have grown rapidly over the last decade and ensuring the region’s businesses have access to the full breadth of choices is important to sustain existing economic activity and enabling new areas of the economy. Other technologies are also playing an ever-increasing role such as ‘Low Power Wide Area Networks’ (LPWAN), including in agriculture – a core part of the region’s economy and communities.

Connected Corridors:

The project will focus on developing coverage from the four national mobile network operators with an emphasis on

4G and 5G. Good coverage on transport routes is a strategic priority and the project aims to enhance the reliability and quality of mobile services on the main roads and rail routes, enabling those travelling to stay connected throughout their journeys.

The Last Few %:

A widely acknowledged 'digital divide' exists between well connected areas, typically in towns, and those areas without good internet access in rural areas. This affects residents’ access to online services and prevents SMEs from developing and sustaining trade. The project will aim to reduce this divide in the region with sustainable and affordable broadband connectivity.

Digital Signalling Processing (DSP):

The world is becoming increasingly dependent on digital technologies and the systems we use today need to be continually evolving. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology is a vital part of the digital economy and manages how digital information is processed efficiently and reliably between devices and people. The region will invest in this further with new equipment to underpin even greater scope and scale of research activities.

Full Fibre at Key Sites:

The project will aim to enhance broadband connectivity at key locations which accommodate clusters of SMEs to support their needs now and into the future. Full fibre is a leading network technology which enables gold standard ‘gigabit capable’ broadband.

All industries are increasingly reliant on high bandwidth connectivity and ensuring that the region’s SMEs have access to competitive and affordable options is vital to support business growth, innovation and sustainability.

David Mathews Land and Property Programme Manager

David joined Ambition North Wales in April 2020 after working as a Commercial Development Manager and Valuation and Estates Manager for 14 years. He has in-depth knowledge of the land and property industry and is a Chartered Surveyor and Registered Valuer.

Land and Property

Bodelwyddan Key Strategic Site, Denbighshire:

The site is identified as a key enabler for new housing and employment land by Denbighshire County Council within their Local Development Plan adopted in 2013, which is to be reviewed in 2023. The site is located close to Junction 25/26 of the A55 opposite Glan Clwyd Hospital and comprises agricultural land extending to 137ha for a mixed-use development site.

Former North Wales Hospital, Denbighshire:

The former North Wales Hospital in Denbigh is a Victorian Grade II listed

building which was built in the 1840s. It closed in 1995 and was sold into private ownership. After arson attacks and severe vandalism, Denbighshire County Council acquired the severely unsafe site in 2017 and in 2018 appointed Jones Bros Ltd as its development partner

Holyhead Gateway, Anglesey:

The Holyhead Gateway Project comprises works to enhance the ports capacity by undertaking land reclamation works within the Harbour.

The Port of Holyhead is a key transport link between the UK and to Republic of Ireland. Holyhead is the second busiest roll on/roll off ferry port in the UK after

Dover and is the most used transport route between the two countries.

Parc Bryn Cegin, Gwynedd:

This site is a serviced employment park on the outskirts of Bangor close to Junction 11 of the A55. The site has remained in a partially developed state for over a decade and the Growth Deal funding will assist in the delivery of modern, advance build employment accommodation with a focus on low carbon construction. The provision of employment accommmodation creates the ideal opportunity for businesses to relocate, expand and grow, taking advantage of our local skilled workeforce.

Henry Aron Energy Programme Manager

Henry joined Ambition North Wales in early 2020, following seven years at Natural Resources Wales, where he led and managed the organisation's role in nuclear and marine policy. Previously, Henry's role involved delivering and developing climate change projects.

Low Carbon Centre of Excellence (Project Egni):

Investing to develop facilities at Bangor University and Menai Science Park, enhancing the region’s capabilities for research, design and innovation in low carbon energy. Bangor University are

Warren Hall, Flintshire;

The project site is located adjacent to Junction 36 of the A55 to the Southwest of Broughton and to the east of A5104 Broughton-Penyffordd Road. The site comprises a triangular greenfield site extending to 76.3 hectares of which 20.4 hectares is for a mixed-use development providing new homes, employment and business uses subject to adoption of Flintshire County Council's Local Development Plan.

Western Gateway, Wrexham:

The project comprises a greenfield development site on the western fringe of Wrexham close to Junction 4 of the A483 and close to the town's

Low Carbon Energy

experts in low carbon energy research, which offers an opportunity for growth of the supply chain in these key sectors.

This will enhance North Wales and the UK capabilities for innovation in low carbon energy and related areas, helping to create the conditions for new inward investment and business growth in the local low carbon energy supply chain.

Morlais:

Morlais is a tidal stream energy project located off the north west coast of Holy Island, near Holyhead. The project is run by social enterprise, Menter Môn, having secured the 45-year Crown Estate lease for the 35km2 of seabed in 2014. Once the infrastructure is in place, the project will allow developers to generate renewable electricity using the North Wales tidal steam, one of the best in Europe.

Smart Local Energy:

To help achieve renewable energy,

Technology Park. The site is owned by Wrexham County Borough Council and comprises a 5 hectare greenfield site, accessed off Croes Newydd Road and with a frontage onto the A525.

The site will be brought forward for employment use with the Growth Deal providing primary services and making the site ready for private sector businesses to move in. The site is allocated for employment uses within the existing Unitary Development Plan and its replacement draft Local Development Plan.

decarbonisation and local ownership targets, the project will support solutions to overcome market failures and help unlock private and community sector investments in local energy solutions.

Transport Decarbonisation:

Support the delivery of a demonstrator project involving the supply of green hydrogen from low carbon energy sources and its use within regional transport networks.

Trawsfynydd Power Station:

The Trawsfynydd site is uniquely placed for a ‘first of a kind’ deployment of a Small Modular Reactor (SMR). In combination with public and private sector investment, the Growth Deal will contribute funding towards enabling infrastructure, helping to secure jobs as well as position North Wales as a leading location for a technology that has significant potential for deployment across the UK.

GREEN SKILLS Discover.

4,694

There were 4,694 unfilled ‘green’ jobs in Wales at the beginning of October 2021.

Building the talent pipeline for a new generation of jobs

60,000

A ‘green and just’ recovery carries the potential to create more than 60,000 green economy jobs over the next two years, in communities right across Wales.

100,000

Across the UK, there’s an estimated shortage of 100,000 technicians with the necessary expertise to undertake the hydrogen boiler/fuel pump domestic refit alone.

£2-4bn

An appropriately-skilled decarbonisation is worth between £2bn-£4bn to the Welsh economy every year for 29 years.

There were 4,694 unfilled green jobs in Wales at the beginning of October 2021, according to Totaljobs, the UK’s largest hiring online platform, with each of these roles representing a sustainable, well-paid opportunity to work for a quality employer in the public, private or third sector. And if the skillsets for these positions are in high demand today, they are sure to be in greater demand tomorrow. The latest research undertaken by the Future Generations of Wales Commissioner (in collaboration with the New Economics Foundation) shows that a “green and just” recovery, supported by sufficient infrastructure investment, carries the potential to create more than 60,000 green economy jobs over the next two years in communities across Wales.

With Wales plc now on the cusp of being able to create tens of thousands of good quality livelihoods that deliver a major increase in GVA - whilst supporting rapid decarbonisation and improved biodiversity across the country - how well-equipped is the current skills pipeline to deliver the talent capable of performing these new roles? The short answer is “not very” - with that same research revealing deeply insufficient numbers in apprenticeship and training programmes, as well as a mismatch between the skills at work in existing employment and those needed for the newly emerging roles.

“Wales could create more than 60,000 green economy jobs over the next two years”

Wales is far from unique in needing to build a training bridge that solves a green skills disconnect. Indeed, across the UK, there’s an estimated shortage of 100,000 technicians with the necessary expertise to undertake the hydrogen boiler/fuel pump domestic refit alone. The positive news? The Welsh Government, educational establishments, independent training providers and employers themselves are now working in partnership - and in fast-forward - to skill, re-skill and upskill the workforce of Wales for the incredible opportunities ahead.

In July 2021, the Welsh Government announced a multi million pound investment in new college courses for jobs in the green economy, as part of the Personal Learning Accounts programme which supports people in lower-income jobs to retrain and move into longer-term skilled jobs with higher earnings. Six colleges (Bridgend, Cardiff & Vale, Gower, Grwp Llandrillo Menai, Pembrokeshire and Sir Gar) have been awarded funding to deliver the courses, which will include subject areas such as electric and hybrid cars, environmentally-friendly heating systems and e-bikes. The courses will be available from level 2 to level 5 (with most courses at level 3) and are available for both part-time and flexible study, designed to fit around other commitments - the perfect foundation for training and retraining anyone over 19 years of age for a green job of the future.

“A multi-million investment in new college courses for green jobs - and the UK’s first dedicated centre of excellence in skills training”

In the private sector, many of the utilities charged with carrying out the green revolution are actively creating the skillsets that will enable them to

deliver this new world - including the British Gas Green Skills Centre in Tredegar: the UK’s first dedicated centre of excellence in green skills training, established in the heart of the Welsh valleys. This unique investment in skilling up for the rapidly growing green energy sector offers practical training and qualifications for would-be energy efficiency assessors and installers of new green technologies. It also offers opportunities for existing British Gas engineers to improve their skills, as well as being a community training facility accessed by local businesses, groups and schools - a truly collaborative facility, developed in partnership with the Welsh Government, JobMatch, Jobcentre Plus, Summit Skills and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.

With Leigh Hughes, Chair of the Cardiff Capital Region Skills Partnership, believing that the Welsh appetite for innovation and collaboration is at the heart of green job skilling - and David Jukes of SWIC maintaining that an appropriately-skilled decarbonisation is worth between £2bn-£4bn to the Welsh economy every year for 29 years - the message is resoundingly clear: Wales has the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (and requirement) to grow skills and create livelihoods en masse, in industries that provide economic, environmental, social and cultural wellbeing. It’s an opportunity we simply cannot afford to miss.

Harnessing our human capital from across the green skills spectrum

When the inaugural meeting of the Hybrid Green Skills Council (HGSC) took place on 1 October 2021, it brought together leading figures from across the green skills spectrum in Wales - harnessing a wide variety of uniquely informed expert perspectives. It represented a common commitment to create the skills pipelines to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by the transition to net zero.

With most industry and government experts predicting that decarbonisation targets will be met through a blended solution of energies - generating power from Biomass, Carbon Capture, Geothermal, Fuel Pumps, Hydro, Hydrogen, Solar, Tidal and Wind technologies - some very significant question marks remain on the skills and competencies needed to give Wales a future-proofed talent pipeline capable of enabling this green transformation. The HGSC exists to bring answers to those questions: considering both the existing green-based projects, ventures and schemes already planned for Wales; and factoring in the forecasted activity to identify collective challenges and opportunities, exploring areas for knowledge share and collaboration.

“ There are significant questions marks around skills - and the HGSC is here to provide answers”

One thing is certain. The launch of an independent pan-Wales HGSC drawn from across industries and sectors could not have come at a more important time. In a world that’s increasingly being defined by a shortage of skills and talent, identifying the core competencies that already exist in Wales will be a key factor in our

success. With David Jukes of Costain warning that “we either decarbonise or get decarbonised”, building the green talent pipeline will be critical to our future economy; giving Wales both the talent pool to meet the workforce requirements of what appears to be extraordinary exponential growth; as well as providing a key pillar to our ‘green investable proposition’ - a competitive advantage that will secure sustainable energy investment from both the public sector and private enterprise funding from across the world.

Indeed, Wales may well be able to reskill and upskill to grasp this once-ina-generation opportunity. Whilst some people believe that we are in need of fundamental new skill sets, others (such as Leigh Hughes, Chair of the CCR Regional Skills Partnership and member of the HGSC) believe that by using the innate Welsh qualities of innovation and collaboration, we can evolve quickly to adapt the skillsets we already have. Either way, we clearly have skills gaps and disconnects right nowand a main remit of the HGSC is to work together to help identify what a resilient talent pipeline, capable of delivering on decarbonisation, looks like.

“Closing the skills gaps and disconnects to grasp the phenomenal opportunities”

If we achieve our aims as a HGSC, we can grasp the phenomenal opportunities that the forthcoming green revolution offers us in terms of well-trained, highly-paid, sustainable employment for communities right across Waleshelping build inclusive prosperity and attract the kind of inward investment that can make us a genuine worldleader; and even an exporter of green technologies and solutions.

With major Welsh-based employers such as Airbus, BOC, Costain, Dow, Dwr Cymru and Wales & West Utilities working increasingly closely with academia to find the right way forward in terms of both the energy and human resource - and with government working at all levels to establish a common approach to the future of energy in Wales - the initial findings from the HGSC are sure to inform both debate and action plans, as industry and education begins to shape workforce planning for Green Wales plc.

Two things are already clear: there’s never been a more important time for green skills - or the Hybrid Green Skills Council.

The Hybrid National Skills Council

Louise Dixey Project Development Coordinator, Next Tourism Generation Project

"Our focus is to improve collaboration between the tourism industry and education, primarily to address digital, green and social skills gaps. We've already made our research on green skills gaps in tourism hospitality freely available - as well as developing key modules for both tourism education providers and industry, on subjects such as plastics, communicating sustainability, sustainable tourism, climate change and food waste reduction. This will be part of a larger open-access ‘Next Generation’ tourism toolkit that  has just been piloted. We've had quite a lot of interest from further education colleges, some universities and third sector bodies like the Centre for Alternative Technology - and we're talking at the moment to the Bluestone Academy, who are also interested in this new resource.”

Chris Hare Head of Apprenticeship Policy, Welsh Government

"We have an opportunity to develop skills in a number of areas, including more domestic construction to support the green agenda. The green economy will be a strong focus in the new policy document and we’ve been talking to a number of partners as to how we will actually set up that policy. The last area - inclusivityis very important. We need to show that the Green Skills Fund is inclusive, in terms of engaging with people from ethnic minorities and also gender balance. These particular jobs tend to be male-dominated and I’ve been working to ensure equality for all - as the green economy is for everyone.”

Nigel Hollett Director, CLA Cymru

“There’s so much ground to cover in terms of what we’ve been doing. Remember the Green Deal that was out there in 2010? It said that it was going to transform our country by developing renewable energy and better insulation of homes –ambitious but didn’t reach the desired outcome. So there's huge scope for the UK Government and Welsh Government to really try and join things up - and genuinely crack this now. I think we're all incredibly keen to see that COP26 is a great success - and we’re working closely with the Welsh Government in terms of the COP26 Wales events that are going to be taking place.”

The Hybrid National Skills Council

Leigh Hughes Chair of the CCR Region Skills Partnership

"We possess a culture of collaboration and innovation here in Wales which we need to repurpose through Green Skills to become solution and outcome driven to meet the needs of industry challenges of the Climate change. Enhancing by developing skills and knowledge to deliver solutions that combine technology and ecology to fight the effects of climate change should be seen as an opportunity to get ahead of the curve. Preserving the environment without sacrificing research, economic growth and employment offered by new technologies and embracing this challenge through learning from nature, our greatest engineer is the ambition and opportunity we should grasp through meeting the green skills agenda."

Jane Lewis (SBCD) Regional Partnership Manager, Swansea Bay City Deal

“We are working with employers and training providers across South West Wales to identify the skills gaps that we have now and what skills we need for the future within the Gren Energy Sector. Partnership with schools, colleges, universities and apprenticeships will be key, to ensure that people are aware of the opportunities that will be generated in the region over the next 20 year and to make sure that we are ready for the transition from the more traditional energy projects to the new innovative technologies.

The region has a number of innovative projects happening including three within the Swansea Bay City Deal programme and the Skills Partnership will be supporting those programmes by ensuring that we have the right skills in the region for the future. As an example, we’re working with the colleges and universities to make sure that we have the qualifications framework to upskill our existing workforce for the domestic retrofit programme, this is only the beginning and  there is so much more to do.”

Sian Lloyd Roberts Regional Skills Programme Manager at North Wales Regional Skills Partnership

“Our main role is to give the employer a voice in terms of what the skills gaps are and what skills shortages exist in the region. We work really closely with the private sector to get a deep understanding of this In North Wales, a region that is home to 37% of Wales’ renewable energy capacity. Our role is to ensure that we have the workforce with the skills required to take up big capital infrastructure buildsfocusing on speaking to providers to ensure that the retrofit qualifications are in place. I definitely think there’s more to be done to inspire young people to pursue a future in these particular jobs; and to achieve this we have to identify what Green Skills are needed. ”

Wyn Prichard Director of Construction Skills and Business Strategy at NPTC Group

“Every apprenticeship now has to be green! And I think we've got to look at skills and competency alike, because the key thing is that we can teach people and we can train people in skills, but we need to align them with the right apprenticeships and the right competency. This is something that needs to be seriously looked at, together with the experience and abilities of the training and lecturing staff. It’s important that the mentor has that experience to teach the students. Wales has been leading the way in a number of green initiatives and we have all the bits of the jigsaw, but to date we haven’t been very good at putting it together”

Shirley Rogers Director of Delivery and Development, Careers Wales

“We’re working with the workforce supply chain across the Green Economyremitted by the Welsh Government to deliver, information, advice, guidance and coaching to young people across the region. One of the things that we’re really committed to is raising people’s aspirations - and it’s clear that we need to ensure our young people have the right information to understand the market going forward; giving them access to the skills they need to develop to grasp the undoubted opportunities that are emerging in this labour market.”

Grant Santos CEO, Educ8 Group

“Right now we’re engaging with experts in the Green Skills space to understand some of the challenges that lie ahead - and getting an all-round strategic-level appreciation of the wider landscape and whole green economy. Our aim is to know what the challenges are - and make sure we are in the right place, with the right skills and capacity, to face them. We need to act now and get both the curriculum and apprenticeship programmes in place, to develop young people and reskill our existing workforces - and we’ve created a project group to bring together key stakeholders, working closely with them to identify what that looks like.”

Jay Sheppard The Marine Energy Project Manager at Marine Energy Wales

“We already have a lot of offshore renewable industry activity based in Wales, but there's a lot of challenges to further develop the industry and bring it forward to its full potential- and skills is only one part of that puzzle. Yes, there are certain skills that will be needed to help develop and facilitate this industry. But it's not a straightforward kind of equation. There's a lot of moving parts and a lot of other issues that need to be considered alongside skills such as project consenting, ports and grid infrastructure, and financial support for early projects from treasury. We sit on a lot of boards and have many conversations with a wide number of stakeholders, we are talking to everyone in this space to find out exactly what their needs are to enable the growth of green industries in Wales.”

Magazine

The next edition or Green Industries Wales Magazine will include the latest developments in Wales’ fastmoving green industrial revolution - indepth features on agriculture, aviation, the built environment, technology, and transport; the latest updates on renewable energy projects that are pioneering Wales’ transition to a green economy, and the industry leaders, organisations and visionary thinkers who are navigating Wales’ journey to net zero.

The magazine will explore the continuing expansion of hydrogen, wind, solar, and marine energy, carbon capture and storage, as well as report on the latest possibilities for nuclear, hydro and other key renewables.

We’ll be exploring who is leading the way in the decarbonising of our industries; how our ports are rolling out their bold new plans as key drivers of Wales green economic transition.

• How are our city deals contributing to the transformation of industries and the regional race to net zero?

• What are the latest technology developments that are driving the greener more sustainable Wales?

• How is Wales decarbonising its built environment through construction and making our current buildings more energy efficient?

• What part are active buildings, domestic refits and ‘smart’ towns playing in the new brave world that will deliver net zero?

• And how is transport - the biggest emitter of carbon of any sector in the UK - responding to the immense challenges it faces in Wales - from our public transport companies to our cars?

Together, we’ll change the energy conversation

The Milford Haven Waterway is home to the UK’s largest energy port. From this deep water, west-coast base we have been providing services and solutions for the oil and gas sector for over sixty years. More recently, we’ve expanded to support new energy technologies attracted by the established energy infrastructure, superb skill and knowledge base, and world-class offshore energy resources.

Now, we are looking to the future. Our focus is supporting an increasingly diverse energy industry as it strives to meet UK Net Zero goals.

Come and talk to us and see how we are changing the energy conversation.

“The trouble is you think you have time."