Plaid Cymru outline plan to use green energy profits to tackle poverty
‘Sovereign Welsh Fund’ would use profits from Crown Estate to invest in communities – Liz Saville Roberts
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts, has today (Wednesday 29 May) said that the enormous value the Crown Estate in Wales should be used to directly benefit Welsh communities through the creation of a sovereign wealth fund.
The Crown Estate encompasses a vast portfolio of land and assets belonging to the reigning monarch. It includes untapped sources of Welsh renewable energy such as the seabed up to 12 miles off land and 50,000 acres of land.
Net profits from the Crown Estate are currently directed to the Treasury, which then allocates a percentage back to the monarch to cover official duties. Currently set at 25%, It is set to decrease to 12% due to growing income from offshore wind farm projects, significantly boosting Crown Estate profits.
The asset value of the Crown Estate in Wales is £853 million. The Crown Estate in its entirety made a record £442.6 million net revenue profit in 2023. This was £129.9 million higher than the previous year. Previous estimates have suggested that new offshore wind farms in Welsh waters could generate £43 billion in rents.
Other countries have used their natural resources to establish wealth funds for their citizens, such as Norway. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is now estimated to be worth $1.6 trillion, which is an equivalent of $295,000 per Norwegian citizen, and made profits of $213 billion in 2023. A study from PwC in 2008 found that the UK could have built up a £450 billion fund had it put tax receipts from oil and gas fields into a similar fund.
Plaid Cymru Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts said:
“This election is about the economy. People are struggling after 14 years of Tory misrule. That’s why today, Plaid Cymru is outlining our plan to use green energy profits to tackle poverty.
“Control of the Crown Estate presents a huge opportunity for Wales to use the profits generated by Welsh natural resources to benefit future generations by establishing a Sovereign Welsh Fund. This is of course inspired by similar wealth funds built by the likes of Norway and Qatar, but built with the profits of renewables rather than oil.
“Unlike Norway, the UK utterly failed to share the wealth generated from North Sea oil. Wales should learn the lesson from that failure, and start investing in a wealth fund that could be used to drive down energy bills, and seriously tackle poverty and inequality. It could also provide a buffer against future economic shocks, something which is particularly important given the impact that climate change threatens to have on the world economy.
"Scotland gained has control over the Crown Estate in 2017, which has already delivered millions to the Scottish Government. Wales must be given the same control over its own natural resources.
“Developments on the Crown Estate such as offshore wind present a historic opportunity for the economy of Wales. It could create thousands of green jobs, while contributing significantly to our efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The people of Wales should be the ones benefitting from this economic opportunity – not the Monarch or Westminster.”