The Welsh government has sustainable development written into its constitution: shouldn’t it at least have the power to decide what power stations go where?
Pembroke Power Station, located close to a Marine Special Area of Conservation, has recently been granted environmental approval
Walking along the coast path around Milford Haven, there’s little reason to suspect that the area has recently become the site of intense controversy. The marshy scenery may lack the craggy grandeur found further north in Pembrokeshire, but the area is well-known for its marine diversity: so much so that the European Commission has given it protected status as one of only 96 Marine Special Areas of Conservation in the UK.
It may therefore come as a surprise that a brand new power station, located right on the Milford Haven coast, has just been given the go ahead. The Environment Agency (EA) approved Pembroke Power Station on 11 November, and the site will become fully operational by the end of 2012.
Next year will also see the opening of the All Wales Coast Path, a real coup for those looking to promote Wales as an eco-tourism hotspot and a hub for sustainable development. Lonely Planet has already named the Welsh coastline the best region in the world for travel in 2012. Yet with sites like Pembroke being built close to protected coastal environments, is the Welsh government in danger of damaging its emerging reputation as a sustainable nation?
RWE Npower, the company who has invested £1 billion in the site, insists the EA has set tough standards in order to protect the Pembrokeshire coast. The power generated will also produce less than half the CO2 emissions compared to electricity generated by existing coal-fired power stations in the UK.
However, Friends of the Earth Cymru director Gareth Clubb claims the environmental permit granted by the EA has not done enough to protect the local area. “We’re very disappointed by the decision that was taken by the Environment Agency,” he said. “Millions of fish and other marine life could be destroyed every year in Pembrokeshire.”
Tremendous green potential
The debate, for now, has abated. Those concerned by the site’s potential impact will have to wait for the EA’s monitoring reports. However, for the Welsh government, Pembroke Power Station has revealed serious issues over the way it responds to new energy developments.
The process works like this: the power station developers must first seek approval for their plans from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The Environment Agency then carries out an assessment of the plans on behalf of DECC, and issues an environmental permit if they are satisfied the site will not cause significant harm.
But the Welsh government, which has frequently boasted of its commitments to sustainable development, plays no part in this process. Doesn’t the Assembly have any say in energy development?
Not according to Gareth Clubb. He explains that the Welsh government has no control over planning applications on this scale; any power station with an energy capacity of over 50 megawatts is dealt with by Westminster. Pembroke Power Station has a generating capacity of 2,000 MW, well beyond the boundaries of the Welsh government’s jurisdiction.
Clubb argues that if that power were devolved to the Welsh government, it would have more control over what kind of energy was generated where. “Welsh Ministers need to wake up to the fact that renewables like solar, wind and tidal power mean jobs. Wales has tremendous potential to deliver green, clean energy, and to benefit from the thousands of jobs it will bring,” he says.
Streamlining decisions
The UK government has no plans to devolve energy powers to Wales any time soon, despite repeated calls to do so from First Minister Carwyn Jones. The Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change Gregory Barker said that a streamlined planning system ensured that major energy strategies were developed efficiently.
“UK Ministers are as accountable to Welsh voters as they are to English voters,” he said during a House of Commons debate on 6 September. “In the absence of any compelling evidence to support a change, we vehemently believe that it is appropriate for UK Ministers to take those important decisions on major infrastructure of national significance.”
Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards claimed that only a little more than a third of all decisions on applications to do with energy stations in Wales were based on planning policy devised in Wales.
“Wales wants to be a greener country and wants to specialise in renewables and the green economy,” he said during the debate. “Indeed, sustainable development is written into the constitution of the National Assembly. However, if two thirds of planning applications are decided outside our borders and our jurisdiction, that is not power devolved, but power retained.”
The Welsh government’s commitment to the All Wales Coast Path has paid off, with high profile endorsements praising the country’s dedication to opening up more of the nation’s landscape to visitors. But increased praise brings increased scrutiny: if power stations like Pembroke continue to be developed without the Welsh government’s approval, then the bid to make Wales a truly sustainable nation may become increasingly hard to achieve.