27th March 2009
Ynni ar gyfer pwy, a phwy fydd yn elwa? Energy for whom, and for whose benefit?
Mis nesaf y bydd ymgynghoriad y Llywodraeth ar Forglawdd yr Hafren yn dod i ben. Mae yna lot yn y fantol yng Nghymru.
Pe bae’r Llywodraeth yn dewis mynd am y prosiect mwyaf, fe fydd yn cynhyrchu 5% o holl anghenion trydan y Deyrnas Gyfunol. Gan fod Cymru gyda 5% o boblogaeth Prydain - a gan mai Cymru fydd yn gyfrifol am hanner y generadu - fe allai yr un prosiect yma gynhyrchu hanner o holl anghneion trydan Cymru.
Ar amser pan mae gorsaf 2 gigawatt wedi cael ei chyhoeddi yn Sir Benfro, gorsaf newydd yn ne-ddwyrain Cymru, posibilrwydd cryf o weld Wylfa B, ynghyd a llwyth o gynlluniau ar gyfer melinau gwynt a gorsafoedd bio-mas, mae’n deg i ni yng Nghymru ddechrau holi ar gyfer pwy mae’r holl ynni yma yn cael ei gynhyrchu a phwy fydd yn elwa?
O feddwl bod gan Lywodraeth Cymru bwerau cyfyngedig iawn yn y cyd-destun hwn - a chyfrifoldeb cynllunio dros gynlluniau 50 megawatt neu lai - mae’n anodd peidio a dod i’r casgliad bod Cymru yn cael ei defnyddio fel lleoliad ar gyfer generadu trydan i Loegr, heb lawer o fudd i ni gan fod yr ennillion yn diflannu dros y ffin.
Yn achos y morglawdd, wrth gwrs, mae’r sefyllfa yn waeth byth oherwydd adnoddau naturiol Cymru - ei dwr a’i harfordir - sydd yn cael eu hecsploetio. Rhyw fath o Dryweryn fodern fydd y morglawdd os nad ydym yn wyliadwrus - ein hamgylchedd yn cael ei ddinistrio heb fudd uniongyrchol o gwbl (ar wahan i swyddi adeiladu dros dro) i bobl Cymru . Yr unig wahaniaeth yw bod y dwr y tro hwn yn hallt.
Mae’n bwysig felly bod Llywodraeth Cymru - fel mae Cyfeilllion y Ddaear yn awgrymu - yn cefnogi’r prosiectiau ‘llai’ - llai dinistriol i’r amgylchedd ond yn fwy buddiol i Gymru. Mae’r morglawdd bach – y morglawdd Shoots – er enghraifft a’r mantais amlwg ei fod yn dilyn mwy neu lai llwybr y rheilfford presennol. Os ydym am weld cysylltiad cyflymdra uchel newydd o Dde Cymru i Lundain, dyma’r cynllun i’w gefnogi.
Gellir ei gyfuno hefyd gyda chwpl o forlynnoedd llanw a’i gyllido heb arian cyhoeddus yn ol adroddiad a baratodd PriceWaterhouseCoopers i’r Llywodraeth Brydeinig. Y cwestiwn allwedddol sydd yn codi wedyn yw beth ddylai digwydd gyda pherchnogaeth yr is-strwythur ar ol diwedd cyfnod y consesiwn o 35 mlynedd i’r consortiwm sydd yn ei adeiladu. A hyd bywyd y cynllun wedi ei amcangyfrif yn 120 mlynedd gellir rhagweld incwm o £360 miliwn y flwyddyn am 85 o flynyddoedd, sef cyfanswm o dros £30 biliwn.
Ac eto awgrym PWC yw trosglywddo’r perchnogaeth a’r incwm i Lundain. Mae hyn yn sarhad yr un mor ddeifiol a Thryweryn.
Codi argae yn wyneb gwrthwynebiad Cymru roddodd fodolaeth i’r mudiad dros Senedd i Gymru. Y Senedd sydd yn gwynebu’r dwr a’i morglawdd bach ei hunan sydd yn gorfod dangos yn awr bod pennod drefedigaethol ein hanes wedi darfod.
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Next month the Government’s consultation on the Severn Barrage comes to an end. There’s a lot riding on this for Wales.
If the Government decides to go ahead with the largest project, it will produce 5% of the UK’s total electricity needs. With Wales having 5% of Britain’s population – and as Wales will be responsible for half of that generated – this one project can generate half of Wales’s energy needs.
At a time when a 2 gigawatt power station has been announced for Pembrokeshire, alongside a new station in south-east Wales and the strong possibility of seeing Wylfa B, as well as a host of plans for wind farms and bio-mass plants, it is only fair that we in Wales start to ask for whom all of this energy is being produced and who will be benefiting?
Remembering that the Welsh Assembly Government has very limited powers in this field – with planning responsibility for projects of 50Mw or less – it’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that Wales is being used as a location for generating England’s electricity, without much benefit for us because the proceeds disappear across the border.
In the case of the Barrage, of course, the situation is worse still because it’s Wales’s natural resources – its water and coastline – that is being exploited. The Barrage will be a sort of modern Tryweryn if we are not alert – our environment being destroyed without any direct benefit at all to the people of Wales (except for temporary construction jobs). The only difference this time is that the water is salty.
It’s important that the Welsh Assembly Government – as Friends of the Earth suggest – support ‘lesser’ projects – less destructive to the environment, but more beneficial for Wales. For example, the smaller barrage, the Shoots barrage, has the obvious advantage that it more or less follows the path of the current railway. If we want to see a high-speed rail link from South Wales to London, then this is the project to support.
It could be combined with several tidal lagoons that could be funded without public money, according to a report prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers for the British Government. The key question which is subsequently raised is what should happen with ownership of the infrastructure after the end of the 35-year concession to the consortium who build it. With the lifetime of the project estimated at being 120 years, an income of £360m for 85 years is anticipated - a total of more than £30 billion.
Yet again, PWC suggest transferring the ownership and income to London. This is an insult as cutting as Tryweryn.
Building a dam in the face of Welsh opposition gave being to the Parliament for Wales movement. A Parliament that faces the water and its own barrage must show that this chapter of our colonial history has ended.
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