News that the Port of Mostyn (on the Flintshire coast) has been chosen to be a base for supporting and maintaining a giant offshore wind, which will create 100 jobs, is good news for the north. The RWE npower deal which is worth £50 million pounds will run for the 25 year life of Gwynt y Môr off-shore wind farm. Once the offshore wind farm once fully operational in 2014 the wind farm is expected to generate electricity for about 400,000 homes and will consist of 160 wind turbines sited about 10 miles off the coast near Colwyn Bay and Llandudno.
In the south, Mabey Bridge's wind turbine tower manufacturing factory in Chepstow has been up and running since May 2011, as part of the company's £38 million investment in the renewable energy sector. The 25,000 square metre facility can make up to 300 wind turbine towers per year. The factory has provided a boost to the local economy, by creating 240 new skilled jobs.
What we need is real direction when it comes to the development of safe and secure energy resources, power generation can provide the potential for real sustainable long term job opportunities. We need to create a flexible decentralised power generation system which will create sustainable long-term jobs for local people, not damage the environment and contribute to providing our local communities with a long-term viable economic energy future, some of which can be community owned and community beneficial, will provide a real future dividend for our communities.
The telling question is will Labour in Wales step up to the plate and actually grasp the opportunity to drive and develop energy policy in Wales? Or not?
What we also need is to investigate more pump storage to store the surplus energy for when the wind does not blow or blows to hard... coupled with selling the water to England you have the basis for a robust economy
ReplyDelete