Malta is looking at reforming its energy pricing models to ensure fairness, sustainability, access to energy for all social groups and incentives for greater economic activity and a smaller impact on the environment, Austin Gatt said this morning.

The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications was addressing oil industry leaders as a World Fuel Oil Summit, hosted by Axelrod Project Inc at InterContinental Malta.

He said the challenge for Malta in a climate of rising oil prices was to secure sustainable economic development and control emissions.

“Our strategy to meet these challenges is based on a number of thrusts,” the minister said.

“Firstly, we have embarked on a policy to decommission one of our principal generation plants in order to replace it by modern technology that will enable for more efficient energy return whilst at the same time reducing the impact of emissions.

“Secondly, we are assessing the benefits of a submarine inter-connector between Malta and the continental electricity grid to enable us to procure green energy and provide us with the appropriate redundancy which an island state struggles to provide.

“Thirdly, we are buying oil which reduces sulphur: down to 0.7% from 3.5% ten years ago and we are planning on further sulphur reductions in the near future.

“Fourthly, we are actively looking at renewable energy technologies to reduce our dependencies on fuel oil. Our land size forces us to look at offshore based technologies, which in turn bring inherent difficulties due to the depth of our waters. Nevertheless we are committed to explore and solutions in this regard.

“Fifth, we seek to influence demand by building the appropriate consciousness of how industry and consumers apply energy saving technologies and knowledge in order to minimise costly waste.

“Sixth, we have aggressively but prudently applied oil forward buying strategies to blunt the impact of the increased prices of oil in order to minimise the impact on both industry and consumers.

“Seventh, we provide buffers to parts of our consumer base to ensure that the increase in the cost of electricity does not imperil their quality of life.

“Eighth, we are looking at reforming our energy pricing models to ensure fairness, sustainability, access to energy for all social groups and incentives for greater economic activity and a smaller impact on the environment.

“And finally, we are currently in negotiations with suppliers to introduce intelligent meters that, once implemented, will allow consumers to have better management of their electricity demand and thus secure the appropriate balance between needs.”

He said Malta remained committed to a stable, reliable and sustainable supply of energy, a reduced carbon footprint , a pricing regime for electricity that encourages business and industrial growth but not at the cost of the private consumer, and a billing model that carries in-built incentives to encourage efficiency and conservation and punishes waste.