Labour ‘s Shadow Secretary of State, Nia Griffith MP, has written to Stephen Crabb, the Secretary of State for Wales to urge him to seal the deal for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, preferably in time for the UK to take the good news to the important UN Climate Change Conference which begins in Paris on 30th November this year.
Ms Griffith who made it a priority to meet last week with Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay, said in her letter to Stephen Crabb
“I am very concerned that a strike price for the electricity produced by the Tidal Lagoon still has not been agreed. I would urge you to do everything you can to persuade your colleagues in the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the Treasury to agree a price as soon as possible.
As you know, all the capital needed for the construction of the Lagoon is being sourced from private funds, and the taxpayer will not be required to contribute anything until the electricity is actually delivered.
I appreciate that we must always seek value for money, not just now, but for future generations, but the strike price does have to take into account that this is a world first, and therefore one would expect the price to reflect the development costs, but as we have huge tidal resource and other lagoons are already planned, that money will be recouped and the price will come down. “
Explaining why she sees this as such as priority for the Government now, Nia explained
“There are huge opportunities for jobs here in Wales in supplying components for the tidal lagoon: the chief executive and his team have a genuine commitment to using a UK-based supply chain, and the meetings held locally here in Wales on procurement opportunities have generated considerable interest. But Mr Shorrock has already fulfilled a request to make a presentation to the energy ministers from all 28 EU countries, so if we don’t grab this chance to get ahead of the game now, we could easily find that someone else takes the initiative and we miss the opportunity. That would mean not just losing the chance for Wales to lead the world, but losing out on a future export market, as well as missing the opportunity to present this as a UK first on the world stage at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30th November.”