Metro Mayor Dan Norris has met with First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford as part of an initiative to strengthen collaboration opportunities between the West of England and Wales.
The meeting in Cardiff agreed to further develop the partnership between both in areas such as marine energy across the River Severn and Celtic Sea, with a focus on floating wind, helping the Metro Mayor in his mission to make the region a renewable energy powerhouse.
The Metro Mayor said marine energy offered a unique opportunity to unlock new clean, green sources of energy and create hundreds of new, skilled jobs and investment providing a major boost to the West of England and Welsh economies and to local people.
Mr Norris hailed the “significant progress” being made in establishing partnership working on areas of shared interest and benefit with the Welsh Government. He said: “So many of us in the West of England have family in Wales and vice versa. So many of our businesses trade with Wales. And its because of these unique heritage and community ties and the great potential for West of England firms to develop partnerships with their Welsh counterparts that I’m determined to take this relationship forward by looking at those shared priority areas, whether its marine energy or the many, many more areas where we can work ever more closely together. Now is the time to build on the significant progress made so far and to strengthen our bonds further still”.
Mark Drakeford MS, First Minister of Wales, said: “I welcome the opportunities to work together on our ambitions for renewable energy. With a challenge as great as climate change, collaboration is key. Here in Wales we are using every lever available to us to develop the clean, smart and flexible energy system of the future, with renewable energy generation at its heart”.
METRO MAYOR MEETS WALES FIRST MINISTER, HAILS PARTNERSHIP WORKING
