Wind energy has been taken off the table, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon, and Permanent Secretary for Energy Ronald Mizzi have said.
"Studies have shown that wind energy just isn't a viable solution in Malta," Mr Mizzi said. Questions arose as to whether would be able to meet its obliged EU target of renewable energy (10% of total energy) by 2020. To this, the Parliamentary secretary as well as the Permanent secretary said that although it was always a very ambitious target, it looks like Malta would make the deadline. They said that 5% of renewable energy will come from bio-fuel, solar water heaters, waste to energy and heat pumps, while the other 5% will come from solar power. This indicates a shift in the government's strategy to tackle renewable energy.
The government presented it's proposed 'Solar Farms Policy' today, at MEPA, a policy drawn up by MEPA in conjunction with the Ministry for Energy.
The proposed policy affects solar farms greater than 1,000 meters, and 72 submissions for areas have been made, 49 of which are considered to be within the remit of the proposed conditions. From these submissions which were received and following a mapping and assessment exercise it was calculated that potentially there is just under 0.7km2 of available area. This could theoretically accommodate around 50MWp of PVs and would contribute by almost a third of the projected PV capacity necessary to meet Malta’s 2020 target, they said.
To limit grid connection costs, reduce distribution losses and limit sprawl towards the countryside, the proposed policy recommends that solar farms are sited in the vicinity of urban areas, or areas with high electrical consumption.
Priority sites include areas within development zones such as large scale rooftops, roofs covered by open spaces, parking areas, land allocated for development such as industrial land and areas of containment. Previously developed land, such as disused landfills, areas committed for industrial activity and operational quarries at current excavated levels are also considered.
Inappropriate locations include protected scenic areas, Natura 2000 sites, fertile and tilled land, sloping sites, garrigues, maquis, valleys, afforested areas, areas of archaeological, cultural or scientific interest and others.
Mitigation measures are also mentioned in the policy, limiting the height of solar panels above the surrounding terrain, limiting the scale of infrastructure according to the scale of the farm and introducing responsible measures for interception, collection and re-use of run-off.
To be considered positively, a proposed solar farm should fit appropriately in the site topography with attention given to limiting the height of the panels above the surrounding terrain. Where possible, the draft policy encourages that the solar farm’s ancillary infrastructure are placed underground and trenching works and access routes should be limited to existing paths.
These solar farms will only be operational for 30 years (the average lifespan of a solar farm), after which the site would need to be cleared and returned to it's original state.
Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon said that areas such as Ta Qali will be off limits, however the car parks there would be considered.
MEPA Chairman Vince Cassar, also present, spoke about the number of policies MEPA has introduced this year, adding that more is to come next year.
The public consultation has launched and will end on February 13, 2015. People can comment on the policy by sending an email to s[email protected]