Energy Minister Miriam Dalli met with her Egyptian counterpart Mahmoud Esmat this week to discuss opportunities for collaboration between the two countries in the renewable energy sector.

Both spoke of their desire to turn the Mediterranean into a hub for clean energy. 

“Malta and Egypt are friendly nations, and together we can continue promoting the initiative we launched in Malta through MED9 for the Mediterranean to become a hub for clean energy. Both countries believe that by increasing our collaboration, we can create economic opportunities in the energy sector that will bring greater stability to the Mediterranean,” said Dalli.

 Dalli and Esmat also discussed ways of making electricity systems more resilient in the face of climate change, and shared information on future projects in the pipeline, such as Malta’s work to build a second interconnector linking Malta to the European energy grid and Egypt’s work to boost its connections to Europe.

In this regard, both countries are exploring the possibility of a virtual interconnection once these projects are implemented.

The Energy Ministry said both countries were “exploring the possibility of a virtual interconnection once these projects are implemented.” It did not elaborate or explain what it meant by a ‘virtual interconnection’.

During her visit to Egypt, Dalli also visited various companies in the energy, tech and manufacturing sectors.