Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet’s endorsement of the Denbighshire Local Area Energy Plan Main Report and Technical Report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      endorses the Denbighshire Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) Main Report and Technical Report (Appendix 1 and 2 to the report), understanding that the LAEP actions assigned to Denbighshire County Council were subject to securing and maintaining necessary funding, and

(b)      confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration.

Councillor Barry Mellor presented the report seeking Cabinet’s endorsement of the Denbighshire Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) Main Report and Technical Report.  The LAEP had been developed as part of a Welsh Government Project.

The LAEP was a data driven, whole energy system setting out a route for the local area towards meeting net zero targets as part of a coordinated approach.  Ambition North Wales were managing a contract with consultants developing the LAEP for Denbighshire and other North Wales counties and the plans would fall under the ownership of each local authority in Wales.  All LAEPs would be aggregated to inform the development of the National Energy Plan.  The LEAP had been reviewed by the Greener Denbighshire Board, the Cross-Party Political Working Group (Climate Change and Ecological Emergency), Strategic Planning Group and Communities Scrutiny Committee and the report included that feedback.  Next steps included a Members Briefing on the LAEP, the development of a delivery/monitoring mechanism to progress LAEP actions, and a review of the Plan in approximately five years’ time.

Cabinet was advised that the LAEP included high-level indicative costs with actions assigned to many organisations.  The actions assigned to the Council aligned with Climate and Nature Strategy and were subject to securing and maintaining necessary funding.  Delivery of the actions would be for a wide range of stakeholders and subject to sufficient political and financial support.

The Head of Corporate Support Services: Performance, Digital and Assets and the Climate Change Manager were also in attendance for this item.

Cabinet considered the comprehensive report acknowledging the importance of the LAEP and collaborative approach in delivering on the ambitions for net zero targets. 

Main areas of debate focused on the following –

·       whilst there was one Wellbeing Impact Assessment (WBIA) covering the whole plan it was a high level assessment focused on broad areas whereas individual projects would likely require a further WBIA and suitability sized or specific feasibility study to identify what needed to be done and the impacts

·       questions were raised regarding the uptake of particular energy systems in private properties, such as rooftop solar panels, etc. and assurances sought that they were accurately captured to be included in future reports.  Officers confirmed that, as part of the process, the Carbon Trust had used open source data to ensure insulation in private properties was included as part of the baseline of the report.  However, the report had highlighted the need for a level of monitoring and oversight of those energy systems and as a North Wales region further work was intended to explore tracking with the Welsh Government through Ambition North Wales to inform that work and engagement with private home developers and private homeowners.  The need to have mechanisms in place to allow all people the opportunity to contribute was highlighted

·       the fast pace of change was acknowledged and given the number of different factors and variables feeding into the LAEP the data that informed it would quickly change.  The intention was to review and update the LAEP in approximately five years’ time as the 2030 target date for net carbon zero approached but there would also be annual monitoring and links with regional energy strategies and national policies which would be carried out much earlier and more frequently 

·       much work had been planned in terms of both offshore and onshore windfarms and further work would be carried out to increase capacity of the grid to capture the extra electricity generated as a result.  The difficulty moving forward in terms of storage of renewable energy was discussed and the need for more innovative approaches in that regard to be at the forefront of such developments.  The potential around land take for some of those technologies had been discussed and the LAEP provided an evidence base for pathways in the region towards an energy safe future and a means for energy companies to inform their own investment plans and grid upgrades together with local area energy systems

·       the need to join energy generators to energy users across sectors and the region and Wales was highlighted together with the potential for the dual use of land for solar energy production and agriculture and how that could be managed for the best outcomes

·       in terms of the next steps attention was drawn to the summary of deployment of critical energy components across Denbighshire and the importance of tracking those changes and inward investment into Denbighshire and the region.

Councillor Rhys Thomas hoped that the document would enable the use of the resources in Wales in such a way as to be at the cutting edge of energy production and energy storage.  The Leader added that the joined up approach would aid delivery of the LAEP in working towards meeting net zero targets.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      endorses the Denbighshire Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) Main Report and Technical Report (Appendix 1 and 2 to the report), understanding that the LAEP actions assigned to Denbighshire County Council were subject to securing and maintaining necessary funding, and

(b)      confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment (Appendix 3 to the report) as part of its consideration.