Ron Loveland, an adviser to the Welsh Assembly Government (www.gov.wales/?lang=en), has said that the energy industry is “on the verge of dramatic changes”.

Speaking at a business meeting in Llanelli, he said that, in his 30 years of experience, “the times have never been more exciting, but they are also frustrating in certain respects.”

He added that Wales is “in trouble” in terms of onshore wind-power generation, following Westminster’s decision to cut subsidies: “We have something like 250MW under construction, another 500MW with planning consent and another 600MW in the planning system, but that is now at risk.”

Also speaking at the meeting was Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Lagoon Power (www.tidallagoonswanseabay.com), which plans to build a £1 billion energy-generating lagoon in Swansea Bay.

He said: “We can create something enormous with this lagoon. We want to start on site next March, which means a financial close at Christmas.” Mike Hayden, corporate director at Barclays, said that the tidal lagoon is “a game-changer which will help to sell the area to the world, in direct employment and building a supply chain and engineering sector around it”.

Stewart Graves, managing director of Mainstay Marine (www.mainstaymarine.co.uk/news), which designs and builds boats and marine renewable-energy devices said: “We are about three years into probably an 18-year ‘up cycle’.

The global economy is going to grow: if we do not grasp opportunities in renewables now, we will not be able to pick them up in five or six years’ time. We have to invest.”