Based in the centre of Cardiff, Bute Energy is making the Welsh weather work for Wales, developing onshore wind projects that will generate clean, green energy, supporting the Welsh Government’s target for electricity to be 100% renewable by 2035.
Bute Energy has a vision of a healthier, wealthier Wales that uses renewable energy generation as a positive power for this and future generations. The company is acting now, taking positive proactive steps to help address the climate emergency and the cost-of-living crisis, while investing in rural communities in Wales to help them have a healthy future.
Councillor Ted Palmer, Chair of the Wales Pension Partnership Joint Governance Committee said: “We are at a critical time for society as we attempt to address climate change and the cost-of-living crisis, while creating green, skilled jobs. This investment in Bute Energy projects means that our members are contributing to addressing all of these issues while also retaining the wealth from renewable energy in Wales.
Bute Energy’s Energy Parks and electricity grid projects are expected to attract up to £3bn of direct investment into Wales, delivering a material boost for economic growth and employment for the Welsh economy. The projects will generate jobs during their construction phase and skilled long-term jobs during their operational phase, at locations across Wales. In addition, we expect that Wales will also benefit from a significant number of indirect jobs associated with such investment.
Once operational, the Energy Parks are expected to deliver approximately £800m of Community Benefit Funding to the communities living closest to the projects and will generate enough clean, green electricity to offset more than 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year – equivalent to c.7% of Wales’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Oliver Millican, Chairman of the Bute Energy Group said: “We’re delighted to welcome this public sector investment in renewable energy in Wales. Public sector workers across the country are investing in projects that will generate clean, green energy that homes, businesses, schools and hospitals will need in the future. They are not only investing in their future, but also the health and wellbeing of future generations in Wales.”
The renewable energy projects that WPP is investing in will help deliver clean green energy to the people of Wales and beyond, addressing some of this generation’s biggest challenges and help to create a better world for future generations. This investment will contribute to the Welsh Government’s targets for electricity to be 100% renewable by 2035 and contribute to targets for 1GW of renewable electricity and heat capacity to be locally owned by 2030. There is wide political support in Wales for pension funds to invest in projects that respond to the climate emergency, with a Senedd debate and vote in May 2022 in favour of the divestment of public sector pension schemes from fossil fuels and stronger investment into the renewables sector.
