Government responds to report on Energy Generation in Wales

• Government response: Energy generation in Wales: Shale Gas
• Committee's Report: Energy generation in Wales: Shale Gas 
• Inquiry: Energy generation in Wales: Shale Gas
• Welsh Affairs Committee

The Government has responded to the Committee’s recommendations in its Report on Energy generation in Wales: Shale Gas, published in June 2014. The Committee’s key conclusions and recommendations were:

• The UK Government and the Welsh Government should work with commercial companies and others to provide a reliable range of estimates of shale gas available in Wales. This should be published by the end of 2014
• Both the UK and Welsh Government should assess the overall impact of shale gas supply on the level and mix of energy produced in Wales and the UK
• The Welsh Government should begin now to consider how the employment opportunities presented by shale gas production could be maximised. This should include a detailed examination of the skills required by the industry and the extent that Wales already has people with those skills
• The UK Government must provide further information about how local communities in Wales will benefit, financially or otherwise, from shale gas operations in their area
• Both the UK Government and the Welsh Government must ensure that the regulatory and planning framework gives due weight to the traffic and noise caused by commercial shale gas operations, in addition to the visual impact and other environmental risks associated with fracking
• The issue of treatment, transportation and disposal of wastewater is a growing concern: toxic and radioactive water must not be allowed to contaminate water courses
• The Government should consider the case for minimising ground-level shale gas operations in sensitive areas in Wales, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and National Parks. It must set out how it would ensure that development does not compromise designated sites, in particular those in environmentally sensitive areas
• Commercial companies should pay for an independent Environmental Impact Assessment at the exploratory stage of any significant shale gas development

Copies of the Report can be ordered from The Stationery Office (Tel: 0845 702 3474) or from the Parliamentary Bookshop (Tel: 020 7219 3890). It can also be viewed on our website at: www.publications.parliament.uk

Further information 

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