At the Welsh Labour Conference 2024, SME4Labour, Renaissance and Progressive Britain teamed up to host an important discussion about how we can ensure green energy projects deliver the promised jobs and investment into local communities.

Chaired by Stephen Kinnock MP, key themes arising included:

• the need for Government to deliver on commitments to port infrastructure,

• to de-risk the investment environment, and

• to offer investors and seabed developers confidence that its commitment to 4.5GW of floating offshore wind would not be a one off.

Representatives from prospective developer Equinor, ABP, and the Port of Milford Haven made clear their commitment to supporting clean energy growth, with government support.

FSB Wales' Ben Cottam said that businesses and skills-providers in Wales would adapt to the market demand over time, while both the Celtic Freeport CEO Luciana Ciubotariu and British Hydropower CEO Kate Gilmartin agreed that green energy projects should work more closely on the skills pipeline and their asks of government.

There was a feeling of positivity on how far the UK has come over the past 5 years on green energy, but a concern about the prospect for complacency meaning we miss out on securing good jobs in Britain, given — for instance — the manufacturing of fixed-bed offshore wind turbines has invariably taken place overseas.