Will the Minister assess the possibility of bringing the target for creating a national energy plan forward from 2024?
The national energy plan will be underpinned by the evidence provided by our local area energy planning (LAEP) programme. We have initiated and funded two LAEP pilots, in Conwy and Newport. We are now working with local authorities and regional decision makers to shape the roll out of LAEP across Wales with the aim for all areas of Wales to have a local energy plan by the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
We are appointing a technical advisor to provide oversight and technical review to the LAEP programme. The technical advisor will process and model the LAEP outputs to form a national view, which will form the basis of the national energy plan. This is already an ambitious timeline, and bringing it forward risks either the robustness of the plan or the support of local people who will be key to delivery.