Gerallt Llewelyn Jones, Director of Menter Môn Morlais Ltd, has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Welsh marine energy sector with an award from Marine Energy Wales (MEW).
Mr Llewelyn Jones was announced as the recipient of the first ever Marine Energy Wales award at the annual Marine Energy Wales Conference in Swansea.
‘Ysbryd Y Môr’ meaning ‘Spirit of the Sea’ is an award established by Marine Energy Wales to celebrate individuals or entities whose passion, commitment and vision have been a driving force behind the growth and success of Wales’ marine energy sector.
Accepting his award at the Marine Energy Wales networking dinner at Brangwyn Hall, Gerallt said thanked MEW for the acknowledgement.
It has genuinely been a privilege to work in this industry over the past ten years. There are some remarkable people in it and I’m amazed at the talent and the commitment of people in our development community.
Nobody achieves anything on their own, and that’s why I want to defer this award to the people who I’ve worked closely together with for a long period of time – Andy Billcliff, James Orme, Dafydd Gruffydd, John Jenkins, all people I’ve learned a great deal from.
We’ve had an enormous amount of support from our stakeholders and I hope I can safely say that we have made good use of the funding we have been awarded over the years, and that’s what we all fully intend to continue to do.
Ladies and gentleman of MEW, thank you very much for this acknowledgment.
Gerallt Llewelyn Jones, Director, Menter Môn
An Anglesey native, passionate Welshman and former schoolteacher, Gerallt established Menter Môn in 1995.
Since then, he has successfully steered the organisation; helping to attract over £70 million of funding to the area and investing in projects such as the Anglesey Coastal Path.
In June 2014, Menter Môn secured a lease from The Crown Estate for a 35km2 area of seabed, now known as the Morlais Tidal Demonstration Zone.
Located off the west coast of Holy Island, Morlais is the largest consented tidal energy scheme in the UK, and seen as a unique model within the sector, providing tidal energy developers the consent and infrastructure they need to supply electricity to the grid.
Once operational, Morlais has the potential to generate up to 240MW of electricity, with the first tidal energy devices expected to be deployed at sea in 2026.
Gerallt’s passion and commitment to Wales and harnessing its potential is truly inspirational to us all at MEW.
The Morlais project, thanks to Gerallt’s unwavering efforts, has positioned Wales as a global leader in tidal energy, provided a blueprint for developers and the future of the industry, and created a platform for the local area to benefit both economically and environmentally.
He has made it his mission to become an expert in tidal energy over the past decade, with a tremendous amount of expertise, but at his heart he is still an Anglesey boy who cares deeply about his home and that really shines through.
We are thrilled to be able to take this opportunity to thank Gerallt for his hard work and commitment over the years.
Tom Hill, Programme Manager at Marine Energy Wales