Responsibility over all renewable energy projects should be devolved to a Welsh department dedicated to energy and climate change to make Wales a “leader” in green energy, the former chair of the Assembly’s Environment Committee has said.

Plaid Cymru AM Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas said all powers over renewable energy – regardless of scale – should be rapidly transferred to a Welsh Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), in a speech at Aberystwyth University.

Lord Elis-Thomas, the AM for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, was ousted as chair of the Assembly’s Environment and Sustainability Committee by his own leader, Leanne Wood, earlier this month after he spoke out against her approach of attacking Ukip ahead of the European elections in May.

In his speech, the former Presiding Officer-turned environmentalist AM criticised the proposal to raise of the scale of consents over energy generation projects to 350MW, from the current 50MW limit, proposed by the Silk Commission as a “political compromise” with “no logic to it”.

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