Photo courtesy of Tidal Electric Ltd

Wales

An Expert in Ocean Energy

Area: 20,000 km²

Population:  2,9 miljon

Landscape characteristics

Wales is one of the four nations of the United Kingdom alongside England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Wales has a varied and highly contrasted geography. In the south, flat coastal plains gives way to valleys, then to hills and mountains in mid and north Wales.  There are over 1300 kilometres of coastline ranging from long flat sandy beaches to towering cliffs.

There are three national parks and five areas of outstanding natural beauty, which cover a quarter of the land mass of Wales. 80% of the land is dedicated to agriculture, ranging from crops to livestock.

RES-production in Wales
The Welsh assembly Government is legally bound by its constitution to promote Sustainable Development, one of the first government’s in the world to be so.  The geography and climate of Wales means that we have considerable indigenous , and therefore secure, renewable energy resources that can be captured effectively by modern technology.  Wales has some 830MW renewable energy operational in Wales and a further 2000MW of capacity either consented or within the planning system.  Wales presently produces around 2.9 TWhr of renewable electricity  a year.  Of this 1.4TWhr  comes from on and off shore wind and 0.5TWhr  from hydro.  Biomas produces 0.8TWhr including substantial co-firing at conventional power stations. 

Wales’ present annual electricity consumption is around 23THhr.  The Assembly Government’s energy policy statement, A Low Carbon Revolution (March 2010) sets out the actions that will be taken to accelerate the transition to an efficient, low-carbon-energy based economy in Wales. The Statement indicates that Wales has the potential to produce more than twice as much renewable electricity as we consume as a nation by 2025 - with about 40% of this from marine, 40% from wind (both offshore and onshore) and the rest mainly from sustainable biomass power or smaller local (including micro) heat and electricity generation projects using wind, solar, hydro or indigenous biomass.

Fact sheet: Wales

Link to the official website of the region:   www.wales.gov.uk

Contact person of the region:  Rhodri Griffiths

Welsh Assembly Government

Sustainable Energy and Industry

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 Phone:  [+44] 029 20823555