Dr Altaf Hussain has said that 'very little has changed' with regard to the Tidal Lagoon Project, and has called upon local politicians to 'stop sowing doubts'.
The Welsh Conservative AM for South Wales West said: "Very little has changed. The UK Government are committed to and supportive of the tidal lagoon. Nonetheless, there has to be a robust negotiation to ensure a price for the energy generated that our country can afford and more importantly, that our children can afford. After all, the Swansea Tidal Lagoon will deliver energy for generations".
He added: "We cannot expect any of the parties involved to say very much during the negotiation process. However, a lot of what has been said and written by some of our local politicians does little to help the project and merely risks 'spooking' the investors who are critical to the success of this great project. It is very irresponsible of them - they should stop sowing doubts.
He went on to say: "Massive subsidies to the renewables sector so far have not delivered innovation or diversification to our energy sector. These large subsidies have merely lined the pockets of large companies who have built large wind farms or solar arrays. We should absolutely be supporting burgeoning technologies such as tidal power - but need to get the balance right between supporting these industries and ensuring value for the taxpayer. We have heard many AMs wanting to deliver massive subsidies for the renewables sector - yet these same AMs are calling on the UK Government to bring down energy prices to support our steel industry. This is totally incoherent".