Solar panels on Gozo schools left unconnected or unrepaired for years, PN says

Updated on Friday at 12.00pm with government's reaction 

Solar panels installed in Gozo schools have never been connected to the grid or have not been maintained leading to schools to miss out on 73% of the energy they should have generated, the PN said.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday afternoon, PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut said the solar panels that have been installed over the past decade have only generated a fraction of what they should have.

In total, Gozo schools lost 73% of the clean energy they should have been generating over the past decade, Sammut claimed.

Describing this as a “scandal that shows the government’s incompetence and lack of credibility on renewables,” Sammut said the figure emerged from PN’s calculations based on the reply to a 2025 parliamentary question.

At the time, PN MP Ryan Callus had asked Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri to list solar panel installations in Gozitan schools.

In his reply, Camilleri listed 13 schools in Gozo where solar panels had been installed ten years prior, showing the amount of energy generated by each school.

Sammut said PN had carried out an analysis to compare how much green energy each school should have generated over this period, with the results being “hard to believe”.

In total, Sammut said, the schools had only generated an average of 27% of the energy they should have, meaning they had lost 73% of their green energy, equivalent to 6.6 million units of electricity.

Some schools, such as the Għarb and Xagħra primary schools generated just 8% of what they should have, he said, while others lost well over two-thirds of their green energy.

Upon further investigation, PN discovered that "some of these systems were never even connected to the grid,” Sammut said.

Meanwhile, others had suffered damage over the years and had never been repaired, despite having been reported to authorities, he added.

“This is just Gozo. I am convinced this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Sammut said, arguing that the issue was likely far more widespread.

“I have information that the Siġġiewi school has had faulty solar panels for years,” he said.

'What happened to the €60m in lost carbon credits?'

Sammut also questioned what happened to the €60 million in carbon credits lost by Enemalta.

Last November, Times of Malta reported that Enemalta was in a legal battle to recover some €60 million worth of carbon credits from a Swiss trader.

Sammut said the party had remained quiet on the issue "in the national interest," after reassurances by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli and Enemalta that they were working to recover them.

"Nine months have now passed since the story emerged," Sammut said on Thursday.

"They should tell us whether there has been any progress on this issue".

The press conference was also addressed by PN MP Rebekah Borg who reiterated PN’s proposals to slash energy bills by 30%.

Meanwhile, PN MP Eve Borg Bonello said the government’s failure on green infrastructure reflected its incompetence in the field.

Government denies PN claims, says solar panels generate energy

In a statement late on Thursday, the government denied PN's claims, which they labelled as "misleading".

In a joint statement, the Education and Gozo Ministry said the roofs of all the schools in Gozo and in Siġġiewi, are connected to the energy grid. 

"In fact, they contribute by geneating more than 31,940.6 kWp of solar energy every year," the statement read.