Written question WQ85894

Officials continue to meet with developers, supply chain and port operators across Wales. These meetings have provided useful insight into the opportunities across Wales.

Both Holyhead and Mostyn ports could be in a strong position to support the fixed offshore wind industry. Currently there is only the Belfast port which has the ability to support this industry on the West coast of the UK, and that port alone would not be sufficient to support the upcoming opportunities off the coast of North Wales and the Irish Sea.

Wales has a credible pipeline of 2.5GW of new fixed offshore projects for the remainder of this decade. These are certainly only the beginning for new offshore wind in Wales, presenting a low hanging fruit opportunity for GW-scale deployments which will pave the way for floating offshore wind, which both North and South Wales could benefit from.

The Offshore Energy Alliance (OEA) is a supply chain cluster representing a region that extends from North Wales to Cumbria. The cluster primarily focuses on offshore wind in the region - but not solely and it is our intention to enhance the opportunities for all elements of the low carbon activities across North Wales. Welsh Government contributed £50,000 to support the creation of a formal arrangement to benefit the region with MSParc as the accountable body.

There are clearly other renewable energy opportunities in North Wales which include innovative marine technologies. These together with the opportunities for hydrogen present in the region provides a real opportunity for North Wales to decarbonise its energy generation.