November 2019 | 01 National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Baseline Data 2019 02 | National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Annual Report - Baseline Data Contents 03 Digital Communications 07 Energy 17 Flooding & Coastal Erosion Risk Management 19 Transport 43 Waste 51 Water © Crown copyright 2019 WG38080 Digital ISBN: 978 1 83933 521 1 Mae’r ddogfen yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg / This document is also available in Welsh Large print, Braille and alternative language versions of this document are available on request. November 2019 | 03 Digital Communications Fixed broadband coverage in Wales • Superfast broadband coverage in Wales has increased to 93% of homes and businesses1. This refers to the availability of fixed broadband services with a download speed of at least 30Mbit/s. • Superfast broadband coverage in Wales is slightly lower than England but similar to Scotland and slightly higher than Northern Ireland. • 7% of homes and businesses in Wales now have access to full-fibre connections. These connections can deliver much higher download speeds, of up to 1Gbit/s. • Ultrafast broadband coverage is lower in Wales that in the other countries of the UK. • 3% of premises (48,000) in Wales cannot access a download speed of 10Mbit/sec. This includes 1% of urban premises (6,000) and 13% of rural premises (42,000)2. Premises coverage, Jan 2019 Fixed broadband services Wales England NI Scotland Access to a download speed 97% 99% 95% 97% of 10Mbit/sec or higher Access to a download speed of 93% 95% 90% 93% 30Mbit/sec or higher (superfast) Access to a download speed of 30% 56% 45% 45% 100Mbit/sec or higher (ultrafast) Access to full fibre services 7% 7% 16% 5% Unable to access to a download speed of 10Mbit/sec and an upload 3% 2% 5% 4% speed of 1Mbit/s (Universal service Obligation minimum) 1 Ofgem Connected Nations update, Spring 2019. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/146613/connected-nations-update-spring-2019.pdf 2 Ofgem Connected Nations 2018 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/130736/Connected-Nations-2018-main-report.pdf 04 | National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Annual Report - Baseline Data Mobile coverage in Wales • Mobile coverage is better in England than elsewhere in the UK3. • A lower percentage of indoor premises has mobile coverage from all four operators in Wales than in Scotland but a larger percentage of the total geographic area, and of A and B roads, is covered by all four operators in Wales. Premises coverage, Jan 2019 Mobile services Wales England NI Scotland 4G services Premises (indoor) covered 73% 80% 59% 76% by all operators Geographic area covered 60% 83% 79% 41% by all operators Europe: Overall fixed broadband coverage, 2018 Geographic area not covered 8% 2% 2% 18% by any operators Coverage of A & B roads 47% 64% 49% 43% by all operators A & B roads not covered 8% 2% 4% 9% by any operators Telephone call service (2G, 3G, 4G) Premises (indoor) covered 88% 93% 79% 91% by all operators Geographic area covered 76% 91% 87% 56% by all operators Geographic area not covered 5% 1% 1% 13% by any operators Coverage of A & B roads 69% 83% 66% 61% by all operators A & B roads not covered 5% 1% 3% 5% by any operators 3 Ofgem Connected Nations update, Spring 2019, https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/146613/connected-nations-update-spring-2019.pdf November 2019 | 05 Digital connectivity in the EU Within the EU-284: • 97% of households have fixed broadband coverage • 94% of households have 4G coverage • 83% of households have Superfast broadband coverage (30Mbps) • 60% of households have Ultrafast broadband coverage (100Mbps) • 30% of households have Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) Variations in broadband connectivity within Europe are shown below. Mobile prices Research commissioned by the European Commission Mobile Broadband Prices in Europe 20185, compared mobile broadband prices in EU-28 countries. It found that prices differ considerably between the least and most expensive countries in the EU. The UK was one of the least expensive countries for mobile broadband. Europe: Overall fixed broadband coverage, 2018 Source: European Commission Connectivity: Broadband market developments in the EU, 2019, page 10 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/connectivity 4 European Commission Connectivity: Broadband market developments in the EU, 2019 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/connectivity 5 EU Commission, Mobile Broadband Prices in Europe 2018, https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/connectivity 06 | National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Annual Report - Baseline Data Europe: Overall superfast broadband coverage, 2018 Source: European Commission Connectivity: Broadband market developments in the EU, 2019, page 10 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/connectivity November 2019 | 07 Energy Demand for energy • Energy consumption in England, Scotland and Wales has been falling • Wales used around 89 TWh of energy in 20166 – a figure that has reduced by around 18% since 2005. • As in England and Scotland, energy consumption in Wales has fallen in the industry & commercial and domestic sectors but stayed relatively constant in the transport sector over that period. • In Wales, electricity consumption accounts for approximately 14.6 TWh of total energy consumption, with the remaining 84% of energy being used for heat and transport7. 600 Energy consumption by sector in England (TWh) 400 200 2011 2012 2014 2015 2013 2016 2010 2007 2005 2008 2009 2006 Industry & Commercial Domestic Transport Source: BEIS, Sub-national total final energy consumption in the United Kingdom, 2005-2016 80 Energy consumption by sector in Scotland (TWh) 40 0 2011 2012 2014 2015 2013 2016 2010 2007 2005 2008 2009 2006 Industry & Commercial Domestic Transport Source: BEIS, Sub-national total final energy consumption in the United Kingdom, 2005-2016 6 Welsh Government, Energy Generation in Wales 2017 https://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/181212-energy-generation-in-wales-2017-en.pdf 7 Ibid 08 | National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Annual Report - Baseline Data 60 Energy consumption by sector in Wales (TWh) 40 20 2011 2012 2014 2015 2013 2016 2010 2007 2005 2008 2009 2006 Industry & Commercial Domestic Transport Source: BEIS, Sub-national total final energy consumption in the United Kingdom, 2005-2016 Electricity generation Total generation by country (all generating companies) 2014-2017 250 125 0 England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland 2014 2015 2016 2017 Source: Electricity generation and supply figures for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, 2014 to 2017 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/770766/Regional_Electricity_Generation_and_Supply.pdf, page 66 • On average over the years between 2014-2017, 71.7 per cent of UK electricity generation has taken place in England, 14.5 per cent in Scotland, 11.2 per cent in Wales and 2.6 per cent in Northern Ireland. • The share of renewable generation rose in 2017 to 29.3 per cent, surpassing the previous record from 2015 by 4.5 percentage points. • Scotland continued to have the highest share, where renewables were responsible for more than half of total generation for the first time. • England, Wales and Northern Ireland also saw record shares of renewable generation: at 26.0 per cent (up 2.9 pp), 20.0 per cent (up 7.7 pp) and 34.0 per cent (up 8.7 pp) respectively. • This jump in renewable generation came despite weather conditions remaining broadly similar to 2016 as significant increases to wind and solar capacity bolstered generation. • England is a net importer of electricity from Scotland, Wales and from continental Europe (via the France and Netherlands interconnectors). Total net imports from Europe fell to 5.2 per cent of consumption from public supply in the UK. November 2019 | 09 • In 2017, Wales exported 30 per cent of its total generation to England, the lowest proportion since 2011. This was due to Wales seeing a 17 per cent drop in generation as a result of reduced gas and coal generation, whilst consumption increased 2.9 per cent compared to 2016. Wales started trading with the Republic of Ireland in 2012 and was a net importer from them for the first time in 2016. Net imports from the Republic of Ireland more than doubled between 2016 and 2017, now accounting for 5 per cent of consumption from public supply in Wales. The charts below show the percentage shares of the generation of electricity by fuel category for 2016 and 2017. £3972.1% 7.5% England 26% Total Generation: 244.8 TWh Gas Oil & Other 42.9% Nuclear Coal Renewables 21.4% 14.3% 2.1% Northern Ireland Total Generation: 9.7 TWh 50.7% Gas Oil & Other 34% Renewables Coal £3972.8% 8.9% Scotland Total Generation: 48.7 TWh 51.7% 36.6% Gas Renewables Nuclear Oil & Other 8.7% 7.8% 20% Wales Total Generation: 35.4 TWh Gas Oil & Other Renewables Coal 63.4% Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/770766/Regional_Electricity_Generation_and_ Supply.pdf, page 69 10 | National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Annual Report - Baseline Data The share of renewables in electricity generation for the four years from 2014 to 2017 are given below, split by country. Percentage shares of renewable generation, 2014 to 2017 Scotland Wales Northern Ireland England UK 2014 38.1 9.6 21.6 16.5 19.1 2015 42.4 13.7 25.5 22.5 24.6 2016 42.8 12.3 25.3 23.2 24.5 2017 51.7 20.0 34.0 26.0 29.3 The renewable share of generation reached a record high in 2017 for each of the four nations and for the UK as a whole, as all countries saw significant increases in renewable generation.