The Strawman Project























Gordon Brown announced a massive expansion in wind power today as part of an overall drive to switch the UK over to renewable generation.

Claiming that it would not be "business as usual" and pointing out that "The North Sea has now passed its peak of oil and gas supply", the PM called for a "National Debate" on reaching a target of 15% of UK electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Brown said "Increasing our renewable energy sources in these ways, on this scale, will require a national purpose and a shared national endeavour".

So let's take a closer look at exactly what this "shared national endeavour" involves...

In Wales, our contribution to this grand plan was unveiled back in February by "Methane Jane" Davidson, our Minister for Sustainability. This "Renewable Energy Routemap underlines the Assembly's commitment to meeting it's target of 4 Twh of renewable energy generation by 2010, and 7Twh by 2020.

Wind forms a key part of this commitment, and the Assembly's wind energy policy is enshrined in the controversial TAN 8 document, which allocates the siting of large-scale wind farm development in Strategic Search Areas (SSAs). In Mid-Wales there are 3 such areas, known as Carno North (B), Newtown South (C), and Nant y Moch (D).

Together these areas account for up to 500 Megawatts of new generation. But there is a problem, and that problem is the grid. Developers are hungrily eyeing up the area, but without the ability to export this massive amount of electricity into the grid, it's just not worth the risk.

Not to worry though, because National Grid have the answer, and Jane Davidson, in her capacity as National Grid's mouthpiece, spells it out in her Routemap. A "new 400kv grid link into England."

Substitute "Powerline" for "Pipeline", and you'll see where this is going...

A National Grid document, accessible here, outlines exactly what this "link" means. A 55km overhead line from their Legacy substation - just outside Wrecsam - to the Cambrian Mountains.

The map above outlines a possible route (in green), given the concentration of proposed farms here.

National Grid made "Connection Offers" to developers using what they call the "Strawman Co-ordinated application Window" on October 31st, 2007. By pure coincidence, this is a mere 6 days after Rhodri Morgan announced "a new era" for wind farms - built on Forestry Commission Land.

Now I'm all for wind, but given that Wales is already a net exporter of electricity, where is the need for this kind of project? As far as I know, 13 separate projects so far have been signed up for connection to this line. But given that this line is designed to facilitate a massive expansion of wind in this region, you can guarantee it won't stop there.

A landscape that already bears the scars of an earlier period of exploitation - for our water - has now been earmarked for exploitation of another key Welsh resource - our wind.

Is this what our Assembly was set up for?

Power to the People






















All credit to Dr. Dai Lloyd on his strong stance over devolution of energy consents for large (over 50 MW ) power stations. His Freedom of Information request for information regarding the exact nature of negotiations between London and Cardiff is a welcome attempt to bring transparency into the process.

On the other hand, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's contemptuous response shows that little has changed really since Tryweryn in the 1960s. It's just incredible, really, that an elected AM has to undertake such a measure to extract information from civil servants answerable to his own peers in the One Wales Government.

So why the secrecy?

Negotiations between the Assembly and BERR (formerly the DTI) have been underway since 2003. On the face of it, they were prompted by proposals for the massive Cefn Croes wind-power project near Aberystwyth. These negotiations prompted an earlier FoI request by Nick Bourne AM back in 2005, similarly stonewalled by Assembly officials on the grounds that the would "prejudice relations between administrations in the United Kingdom."

Of course, Cefn Croes is now up and running. It's amazing what stalling for time can do. A classic tactic employed by the Sir Humphreys of this world...

Negotiations have been ongoing for at least 5 years and have gone nowhere. In that intervening timescale a number of new power projects have materialised, including the world's biggest LNG terminal and connecting pipeline, a new gas-fired power station at Uskmouth, and approval last year for the world's biggest Biomass plant - the Prenergy plant in Port Talbot. Many of these projects are effectively geared for export to England.

Many have been unsuccessfully challenged locally and in the courts, even while in the past year alone, no less than 4 major energy projects have been thrown out in England, including a key installation along the pipeline itself.

So what's the answer? It seems that while devolution has given us a measure of democratic accountability here in Wales, it has also allowed the UK government to "outsource" energy projects that have been rejected by our good neighbours in England. And while our civil service here in Cardiff pleads impotence, it's been quite happily working behind the scenes to push through many of these projects, including routing pipelines and siting wind turbines over Assembly controlled land, sidestepping the concerns of affected communities.

Who are they accountable to - the Assembly or London? It's quite clear that the current devolutionary setup - at least in energy terms - is unsustainable. But if BERR refuses to devolve these powers, what are we to do? We need accountability, and at present we do not have it.

The only answer is a full Welsh Parliament, and to get that we need a referendum. The Assembly was created by a broad-based popular campaign, and a similar campaign needs to be initiated, sooner rather than later, in order to create unstoppable momentum behind the need for a full Parliament. With so many energy projects now underway across Wales, the argument for more powers needs to be put across to affected communities and residents.

For people who live in the shadow of these developments, these arguments should have powerful resonance. If we do not make them, we run the risk that these developments will turn people against more powers, as the ambiguity of the current setup may alienate people against an Assembly they see as "useless" and "powerless".

With the world in the midst of a full-blown oil crisis, energy is becoming a matter of political survival, and for a British Establishment wrestling with a rapidly growing energy gap, you can bet that means that Wales will come off second best. If we don't fight our corner - no one else is going to.

The longer we wait for a proper Parliament, the more large power projects will be imposed on us, more of our protected landscapes will be ripped up, and the health and safety of more of our communities will be sacrificed to meet England's electricity needs. As it stands, Wales is rapidly becoming an "energy colony", and our Assembly the rubberstamp.

We need a full Parliament with law-making powers, and we need to start campaigning for one now.