Local Area Energy Plans in Wales

As we turn the corner on a full set of adopted and noted Local Area Energy Plans in Wales, a global first I believe, let’s take a moment and look at what it has taken to get this achievement across the line including our role in this exciting first to have a whole country covered by Local Area Energy Plans.

Welsh Government has an incredibly ambitious Net Zero agenda and are coupling this with resource, evidence and a focus on delivery as well as key stakeholders in the right places to help maintain momentum and raise ambition at all levels of the public sector in Wales. 

Just two years ago the programme for delivery for 18 Local Area Energy Plans was started with a groundbreaking  collaborative procurement exercise, you can learn more about this part of the process in our previous article on regional collaboration here Collaboration is king in solving today’s ‘wicked’ problems | Local Government Chronicle (LGC) (lgcplus.com). 

Owing to the strong regional relationships, the Regional Energy Strategies that preceded the Local Area Energy Plans and the ability of Welsh Government to support, consultants were appointed to delivery 18 out of 22 local authority local area energy plans. The remaining 4 local authorities in Wales had already had Local Area Energy Plans completed as part of a pilot phase. 

Welsh Government Energy Service and Local Area Energy Plans in Wales

Local Partnerships, in our role as Strategic Lead for the Welsh Government Energy Service, has supported this process from the start and continue to do so as we work towards turning the plans into mechanisms for delivery. In our role we have supported the procurement process ensuring regional and local voices were heard at all stages of the process, onboarding of consultants to deliver the Local Area Energy Plans, identification of key stakeholders, documents and strategies to incorporate into the process. We have also attended and facilitated regional and local workshops on both regional and local area energy planning, helped identify and then minimise any barriers or challenges as they arose throughout the process, seeking opportunities for regional aggregation,  and are now in the process of supporting the local authorities with their final governance sign offs for the Local Area Energy Plans. 

Our work now shifts towards delivery, maintaining key relationships and peer to peer learning through national forums. We will also be hosting a Best Practise Webinar in the Autumn sharing all our learnings from the process and are excited to be working on the next phase of this programme supporting Wales nationally, regionally and locally with their Net Zero ambitions, which now include both regional and local evidence bases from which to build prioritised programmes of work. 

Get in touch with the Welsh Government Energy Team

Do please get in touch with anyone from the Welsh Government Energy Team, Victoria, Carwyn and Jane at Local Partnerships to learn more about our journey with Local Area Energy Planning in Wales and look out for details of our webinar in a few months time. You can also use the ‘Can we help?’ form on this page.