Power@Sea Nv, a Belgian company of the DEME-group specialising in offshore wind farms is interested in setting up an offshore wind farm in Malta, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.

The DEME-group has already successfully built several offshore wind farms in Denmark (Samsoe) and Sweden (Utgrunden). At present, the sheerleg pontoon “Rambiz” owned by DEME is installing the foundations of a wind farm in Scotland. Power@sea also plans to set up an offshore wind farm on the Thornton Bank called the C-Power Project in the North Sea.

Earlier this week, the Malta Resources Authority (MRA) called for an expression of interest on behalf of the government, for interested parties to undertake the first offshore wind project in Maltese territorial waters. The closing date of the EOI is 3 October 2006.

MRA officials pointed out that the possibility of wind farm development on land was considered to be unsustainable, due to the country’s size and population density, together with the wind turbines’ negative visual impact.

The final capacity of the wind farm project is estimated to reach between 75 and 100 megawatts – around 10 per cent of the electricity generated in Malta.

The capital expenditure for the Malta project is estimated at e150 million for 20 units on an area of six square kilometres at depths varying from 50 to 100 metres. The energy produced by the farm would then be sold to Enemalta at fixed tariffs. The investment cost would be recovered within eight or nine years.

The new wind farm built for C-power by the DEME-group will have an installed capacity from min. 216 MW to max. 300 MW, which corresponds to 60 wind turbines of min. 3.6 MW to max. 5 MW.

The Belgian company commissioned a number of reports to study the impact of the wind farms on the environment.

According to the website, certain offshore wind farms have an impact on sea fishing. “Certain areas may be closed to commercial fishing, as a result of which the total area that can be fished is reduced, but new habitats may also be created as a result.”

It also pointed out that the wind turbines in this far shore wind farm will just be visible as small dots on the horizon in conditions of very clear visibility.