Reactions to the Nationalist Party’s vision entitled ‘A new energy future for Malta: 2021- 2030 -2050’ have been widely positive and welcoming.
The Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry acknowledged that the energy sector requires long-term planning, ensuring security of supply for a stable and sustainable future economy, as proposed in our strategy.
The Renewable Energy Section within the Malta Developers’ Association acknowledged the importance of having a strategy that has a mix of short-, medium- and long-term initiatives, noting our various initiatives aimed at encouraging consumers towards energy efficient systems, namely the introduction of domestic batteries and air-to-water heat pumps.
Existing government schemes provide an insufficient allocation compared to the expenditure involved and, judging by the uptake so far, a Nationalist administration would consequently increase the existing funding available.
Our vision goes beyond the typical five-year electoral cycle and, instead, puts forth our long-term commitment towards reaching higher clean energy targets by 2030 and becoming a carbon neutral economy by 2050.
According to the European Commission, Malta’s existing national energy and climate plan is, at best, “of a low ambition” and, at worst, “unambitious”.
Our vision is based on six major guiding policy pillars: the cheapest first supply policy, energy efficiency first, long-term alternative national generation capacity, electrification of transport, further interconnection to Europe and large-scale renewable energy generation. It foresees three capital projects: a second interconnector with mainland Europe, a large-scale offshore deep-sea wind farm and a gas-hydrogen-ready pipeline.
The existing interconnector has been a success story. However, Labour’s 80 per cent take-or-pay with Electrogas impeded us from maximising this cheapest energy source. The auditor general established that, over a six-month period, we paid €10 million extra when purchasing energy from Electrogas when the interconnector was available and cheaper.
As demand is expected to increase over the years due to electrification of transport and other factors, our vision considers a second interconnector within the next 10 years as the most sustainable way to achieve lower utility bills.
Our proposal to reduce the existing electric car night-charging tariff from the present 13c to 10c5 per unit is expected to further incentivise uptake of electric cars because it is unheard of that a night charging tariff is higher than the basic day charging tariff.
Our second proposal addresses a point of principle: that energy generated through solar photovoltaics should be compensated in equal measure as conventionally gas-generated units at Delimara. To this end, Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech proposed raising the existing spill-off rate of 7c5 to Enemalta’s minimum charging tariff of 10c5 for every unit generated from photovoltaics for expired contracts under schemes launched as recent as 2019.
Our vision considers a second interconnector within the next 10 years- Ryan Callus
Days later and just minutes before joining me on a debate on TVM, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli decided to adopt our proposal. This development is most welcome for thousands of photovoltaic investors who, thanks to the Nationalist Party’s proactiveness, will be benefitting. It is, however, rather ironic for Labour to first criticise our proposals as costly, only to then propose them just days after our pronouncement.
These two short-term measures will cost less than the €10 million paid unnecessarily for purchasing from Electrogas rather than from the interconnector.
Due to the limited onshore space, Malta must tap into technologies without eating further into what remains of pristine land. Offshore deep-sea wind technology is rapidly reaching commercial maturity and offers an opportunity to boost renewable energy share. A Nationalist administration will invest in capital projects, creating green jobs here, unlike Labour’s shady business project in Montenegro, hatched by Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat, being investigated by the police.
Ultimately, a Nationalist administration will address the injustice in the mechanism by which utility bills are issued. Muscat is on record stating this had to be addressed by 2019 but, two years down the line, our families continue to be robbed due to the irregular billing mechanism. Given that bills are being issued on a bi-monthly basis, the assigned units for the cheapest band might not be fully utilised, in particular if a household happens to consume more than usual over one given period. Our proposal will affect many families in different ways and reduce utility bills accordingly.
As the Nationalist Party continues its public consultation on its energy policy, we shall continue to lead in our proposals for sustainable utility bills and good air quality for present and future generations.
While Labour has become reactive to our proposals, the Nationalist Party is gradually establishing itself as a leader in policy formulation, serving as a catalyst for a national debate and setting these priorities for a nation to succeed in the years to come.
Ryan Callus is Nationalist Party spokesperson on energy.