Ambitious energy measures revealed to get Flintshire to net zero by 2050

The energy infrastructure that delivers power to homes and businesses across Flintshire must undergo a dramatic transformation to get the county to net-zero by 2050.

Flintshire’s Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) – written by the Carbon Trust and engineering consultants Arup – has set out where the county’s energy network needs to be by 2050 in order to reach net-zero carbon emissions.

It includes increasing the number of buildings with rooftop solar panels from 2,900 to 99,700, ramping up the number of heat pumps installed from 700 currently to just over 95,000 and expanding the electric vehicle charging network from 220 public charge points to almost 64,000.

In addition it calls for the authority to almost triple the number of homes with energy certificate ratings of A-C from 13,000 to 37,200.

The plan also states that Flintshire needs to begin utilising hydrogen for industrial energy needs – moving from 0 GigaWatt hours a year to 220 GigaWatt hours a year.

The LAEP will feed into the Future Wales National Plan 2040 as part of the national net-zero target for Wales .

Responding to the LAEP, chairman of Flintshire County Council’s Climate Change Committee Cllr Steve Copple said that there was a need to understand what support would be offered by the Welsh Government for these significant changes.

“You mentioned monitoring systems and support from the Welsh Government,” he said. “With a lot of plans these are enablers. If you don’t get them then the plan falls apart.

“We’ve only got a few years to reach the 2030 targets. Is there a timescale for securing robust support?”

While there was no current timscale for funding available, Flintshire County Council’s climate change officer Ben Turpin and chief planning officer Andy Morrow agreed to ask Ambition Wales – the lead organisation for LAEPs nationally, to provide further information on timescales for funding in a workshop for councillors on the LAEP next month.

Cllr David Healey also recommended the committee include a Coal Authority report which highlights the potential use of mine water to provide stable heat for heat pumps to support the LAEP.

“We are going to be giving consideration to the potential of using mine water,” he said. “The Coal Authority identifies certain sites, such as Hawarden Bore Hole, that can lend themselves to this.

“At the very least in recommending that cabinet endorses this LAEP report it should be used in conjunction with the Coal Authority report.”

By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter