Welsh Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, Mick Bates has warned that the Welsh Assembly Government has “little hope” of hitting its 2010 renewable energy target. He said there was a “stifling lack of progress” in wind farm development:
The assembly government has pledged that it will increase green energy by 10% by 2010. It said £6.5bn worth of renewable energy projects were either planned or underway in Wales.
But Mr Bates, speaking in his capacity as an AM, and not in his role as chair of the assembly’s sustainability scrutiny committee, said there was “little hope” of reaching the green target set by officials in 2005.
He urged the assembly government to support companies in the wind sector suffering as a result of the economic downturn, which he said was happening in Germany and Spain.
Mr Bates added: “Times are clearly changing as the US has taken the lead in the production of wind power, while here in Wales with frustrating local objections we have seen a stifling lack of progress over the past few years.”
He said at this rate the assembly government stood “little hope of reaching the 4TWh target under TAN 8, let alone more ambitious targets under the renewable energy route map”.
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