Jane Davidson, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing
This was published under the 2007 to 2011 administration of the Welsh Government
Today I have published the National Energy Efficiency and Savings Plan outlining how we have and will deliver against many of the commitments made in A Low Carbon Revolution, the Fuel Poverty Strategy, the Climate Change Strategy and Economic Renewal: A New Direction. So far, we have:
- Improved the energy performance of 6,000 households through arbed
- Developed a new all-Wales Fuel Poverty Scheme, which will be in place from April, and will provide assistance to up to 15,000 people a year
- Enabled 4,700 householders to replace old and very inefficient boilers through the boiler scrappage scheme
- Introduced the Code for Sustainable Homes, expecting at least Code Level 3, and higher energy standards, for all new housing in Wales
- Established a Climate Change Grant Programme to support groups wishing to take action on climate change
- Established Ynni’r Fro to support community scale energy generation
- Funded the Carbon Trust to support businesses in Wales to cut carbon emissions and capture the potential of low carbon technologies
- Funded support for SMEs to gain accreditation under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme for renewable energy installation
- Utilised our projects, such as arbed and the new Fuel Poverty Scheme, to generate local training and employment opportunities
- Invested over £5m in public sector carbon reduction projects
These and other actions indentified in the National Energy Efficiency and Savings Plan will contribute to:
- Reducing fuel poverty and helping to deliver our Fuel Poverty Strategy
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping to deliver our Climate Change Strategy
- Creating jobs and business opportunities in one of the six sectors identified in Economic Renewal: A New Direction and supporting delivery of our Green Jobs Strategy
- Improving the energy performance of buildings in Wales, raising the overall quality of building stock and cutting energy costs
- Regeneration of communities in Wales both through improvement in the fabric of buildings and, importantly, through the creation of jobs and business opportunities which will lead to more cohesive, sustainable communities
- Our wider energy policy, complementing the contents of Wales: A Low Carbon Revolution
- Enabling and engaging people, organisations and businesses to reduce their energy consumption and become more energy efficient
- Supporting a more equal and socially just distribution of resources