With ASKAR SHEIBANI

CEO, Comtek Network Systems UK Ltd and chair, the DBF

One of the key duties of any democratic government is to protect its citizens by providing solid national security. A reliable guaranteed supply of energy is a national security matter.

Regrettably, and due to naivety, most free nations have failed abysmally in their energy policies.

Relying on receiving the vast majority of a country's energy from untrusted countries is total madness and highly dangerous. The UK government is as guilty as the other irresponsible governments in Europe in this regard.

About 30 energy suppliers have already gone bust and we have just witnessed the UK's biggest data centre firm, SunGard, going into administration due to soaring energy costs.

A large number of North Wales manufacturers rely on stable energy prices and this sudden massive increase in gas and electricity will hurt our manufacturing industry and economy.

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The following two examples clearly illustrate the reasons why I believe the UK's successive governments were totally irresponsible, negligent or at least incompetent.

We had many great opportunities in Wales to invest in and implement impressive renewable energy projects in the past. Swansea tidal lagoon and Wylfa Nuclear Power station projects were substantial green energy projects.

The UK government, after wasting at least a couple of billion pounds delaying and dithering, eventually managed to kill these two fantastic key infrastructure projects.

This type of madness by the UK government must stop. The UK government has to wake up in the light of Russian aggressive behaviour, and accept that it is in our national security interest to become self-sufficient in terms of our energy supply.

We have already several fantastic opportunities in North Wales to create the world's largest tidal energy projects. We need to push and restart the Wylfa nuclear project.

The North Wales Growth Deal is a great platform from which to accelerate some of these amazing green energy projects such as hydrogen energy hubs, solar panel farms and many more.

The private sector is willing and enthusiastic to invest in green energy in North Wales, making the region a powerhouse for the rest of the UK. This will make the whole Wales energy self-sufficient and a net exporter of green energy. These green energy projects will transform North Wales into a fast-moving, dynamic economy.

North Wales is very fortunate to be one of the very few regions in the world to have suitable landscapes and coasts to develop major renewable energy infrastructure.

I urge the UK government to learn a bitter lesson from the present global situation and support North Wales' low carbon energy projects swiftly as a national security priority.