Malta's sun as an alternative to oil for energy

Should the Maltese government try to find an alternative to oil in order to generate energy?



In the EU recently a lot of countries have been debating alternative energy ... this is because in the future we will not be able to rely any more on the production of oil for energy.

Go and see read about Solar Photovoltaic (PV)

Unlike technologies using fossil fuel, solar energy doesn't lead to harmful emissions during operation and if placed on sides of buildings or roofs they only add to our renewable power. In Germany and Italy there has been a boom in solar photovoltaic which in my opinion can be adapted to all the countries in the Mediterranean because of the high sun radiation which is provided during the year. Given the geographical location of Malta and its high incident solar radiation, photovoltaic is a potential resource.

Can the Maltese goverment run a financial incentive for PV?

Incentive policies serve to grow the industry even when the cost of PV is very high and to promote independent national energy production and reduce CO2 emissions.

Living in Italy I can present the incentive presented by the Italian government - Conto Energia.


The Regional Roof-Top Programmes, are mainly aimed at enforcing the diffusion of PV technology among the Italian citizens.

A contribution percentage, ranging from 50 % to 70 % of the investment cost, has been requested by the applicant and constitutes the main parameter for financing grants.

The tariff of produced electric energy varies with the nominal power of the plant and ranges from 0,445 EUR/kWh to 0,490 EUR/kWh.

The duration of the support is 20 years and the tariffs are updated on a yearly basis, taking into account the official inflation rate.

The electricity produced by the PV plant can be used for its own consumption or sold to the local utility and this benefit is maintained also after 20 years. For plants larger than 50 kW, the tariff is subject to a tender mechanism, which favours the tariff with a lower value. For these plants, a bank guarantee of 1 500 EUR/kWp is requested as a penalty, in the case the PV plant is not installed within the deadline fixed by the decree.

The decree states that promotion tariffs:

• are reduced by 30 % if combined with fiscal incentives,
• are not applicable to PV plants which have obtained incentives from public bodies exceeding
• 20 % of investment cost and are not compatible with green certificates.

The overall power, which is expected to be supported by this decree, is 100 MWp, of which 60 MWp assigned to plants up to 50 kWp and 40 MWp for the larger ones. A final target of 300 MW is expected by 2015.

(taken from http://www.iea-pvps.org)



Such incentives cost millions of euros which probably Malta cannot afford but if it is beneficial to the Mediterranean the EU could provide financial help to carry out this project in the beautiful and sunny Malta.

You are free to leave comments and suggestions on this topic.

thank you