The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said that today’s announcement by the UK Government on investing £14.2 billion in the Sizewell C Nuclear Plant in Suffolk is a massive, missed opportunity for both Wales and the UK’s efforts to tackle climate change.
The party say that while Sizewell C is a huge project, capable of powering 6 million homes, not one of those homes will be in Wales — and not one job from the development will benefit Welsh communities.
The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds MS, has written to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to call on the UK Government to urgently start investing in Welsh Tidal Lagoon projects, such as the one in Swansea Bay.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats say that if the Government had chosen to invest in Welsh Tidal Lagoon projects thousands of high skilled, well-paid jobs would be created in Wales giving a much-needed boost to our coastal economies whilst helping the UK to meet its climate goals.
Commenting she said: “Once again we’re seeing this Labour government putting other parts of the UK first.
“Just imagine how transformational it would have been to the Welsh economy if the UK Government had chosen to invest in Welsh Tidal Lagoon projects rather than more nuclear power stations.
“For generations we exported energy to the world and the Welsh Liberal Democrats want to see us do it again through renewable sources such as tidal.
“Both the UK Labour Government and Welsh Labour Government need to be more ambitious for Wales’ future and think about how a failure to invest in Wales today is damaging our economic prospects for generations to come.”
An independent commission of experts have recommended in March that the government “act now” to harness the UK’s huge potential for tidal range energy in the Severn Estuary.
The report prompted backers of the cancelled Swansea Bay tidal lagoon to call for the UK and Welsh Governments to “get on with building” a lagoon in Swansea as well.
