The government has failed to greenlight a plan to install thousands of solar panels on massive swathes of public land that could generate around 25 per cent of the country’s electricity, according to the company’s CEO.

Noel Gauci, an entrepreneur and the CEO of MaltaEnergy, told Times of Malta the company has repeatedly proposed the installation of solar farms above several public car parks and other places.

The car parks include those of the cruise liner terminal, Addolorata cemetery, ferry terminals, park & rides and the University of Malta.

"We continue to foolishly depend heavily on sources of energy from outside of our country."- Noel Gauci, CEO, MaltaEnergy

He has also proposed installing panels on the rooftops at Marsa shipbuilding and Kordin grain terminal, Ta’ Qali farmers’ market, reverse osmosis plants, Malta’s industrial parks, as well as the airport, AFM sites and exposed historical sites such as Tas-Silġ and Għajn Tuffieħa.

But the projects were never given the go-ahead, he said.

The company, in which the government is the majority shareholder, has subsequently become stagnant and inactive, Gauci said when contacted for comment.

Noel Gauci would like to install solar panels at the cruise liner terminal, among the many other places he has identified. File photo

Government denies standing in the way

The government denies it ever stood in the way of new projects and says the company has already achieved and surpassed the goals for which it was set up. At the same time, it suggested the company was failing to seek new opportunities.

MaltaEnergy was set up in 2017 by the government and the Malta Chamber of SMEs and was initially tasked with installing solar farms covering rooftops of Water Services Corporation reservoirs in Qrendi and in Gozo.

The projects were completed by last year, generating enough energy to power 750 households at two megawatts of power, double the projected amount.

The company has since sought to extend installations to a myriad of other locations where it believes public land could serve to generate energy that would reduce Malta’s dependence on foreign sources of energy.

'Rotting apples'

“Malta enjoys so many sunny days and the government is the largest landowner, yet it is not using that land to its full potential to generate electricity. Instead, we continue to foolishly depend heavily on sources of energy from outside of our country,” Gauci explained.

“It’s like having apple trees in your garden, only to let them fall and rot on the ground while you buy apples from the grocer. It makes no sense.

“We like to believe we’re an independent country, but you’d be shocked to realise how much we’re not. We’re dependent on those countries from whom we buy our energy, and if they decide to shut down the supplies, we’re doomed. We’re not an independent country at all.”

A solar farm in Mġarr opened in 2020 as a private initiative by partners AX Group, PX Company and Solar Solutions. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Malta cannot hope to generate all its electricity through onshore solar panels, Gauci said, but the country was barely tapping into 10 per cent of what the land could potentially generate.

“The grid hardly keeps up with the demand when most people switch on their air conditioners, and now we’re urging them to buy electric vehicles as well,” he said.

“How is the grid going to sustain the demand for charging all those cars in a few years’ time?”

MaltaEnergy is proposing that most public car parks and the Gozo Channel ferry terminals be covered in solar panels that would provide shade for parked cars and provide electricity at source for electric vehicles.

The extra energy generated could be stored in batteries and channelled into the national grid.

'The panels can be beautiful'

Gauci is not worried about the panels being an eyesore. “Just Google ‘aesthetically pleasing solar panels in car parks’,” he said.

“We don’t have to design ugly panels. They can be beautiful.”

Were the government to approve all MaltaEnergy’s proposed solar farms, in a few years they would be able to generate around a quarter of the electricity needed by the country on a normal day.

But he is also suggesting installing panels over exposed historical sites such as Tas-Silġ in Marsaxlokk and in Għajn Tuffieħa, and in places like the Ta’ Qali farmers’ market.

The Energy Ministry forwarded questions from Times of Malta to the Water Services Corporation.

A WSC spokesperson said MaltaEnergy had been set up only to “construct a one-megawatt (1MW) photovoltaic power plant on the roof areas” of properties owned by the corporation.

These were the Qrendi reservoir and the multiple reservoirs at Ta’ Ċenċ, which together now generate 2MW of power.

'MaltaEnergy exceeded scope'

This “surpassed the initial target set by MaltaEnergy and exceeded the scope for which the company was originally set up”.

“At no point did the government halt any projects from coming to fruition. Given that MaltaEnergy Ltd has an autonomous management, including a CEO, it is up to the management of the same company to analyse and seek new opportunities.”

Gauci insisted that he repeatedly forwarded suggestions for the installation of PV panels in public spaces but the Energy Ministry refused to take them on.

While the company was set up to install panels on the corporation reservoirs, it had the broader scope of taking on installations on other public lands, he said.

In last year’s electoral manifesto, Labour pledged to work with the private sector to develop offshore floating wind and solar renewable energy projects.

While a good idea that should be explored, this was not feasible and it would take 10 to 20 years to develop the technology, Gauci said. His own option was cheaper and would yield relatively quick results.

Malta is bound by international regulations to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has said that Malta has already surpassed its 2030 EU renewable energy target and the government’s ambition was to go further, with a minimum target of reaching 50 megawatts of renewable energy produced by 2030.

MaltaEnergy is proposing installation of PV panels:

• Over the Mġarr and Ċirkewwa ferry terminals queing areas;
• Over car parks at the Addolorata cemetery, Mater Dei and St Luke’s Hospitals, the University the Valletta cruise liner terminal;
• In Wied il-Buni, Birzebbugia;
• Over Blata l-Bajda and Pembroke Park & Rides;
• Ta’ Qali Farmers’ Market'
• Over rooftops of Water Services Corporation reservoirs and reverse osmosis plants, Marsa shipbuilding and Kordin Grain terminal;
• Over exposed areas within Malta’s industrial parks;
• At the airport;
• At AFM sites;
• In Wied Fulija Sant’Antnin Wasteserv park;
• In Ġnien l-Għarusa tal-Mosta;
• Over exposed historic sites such as Tas-Silġ in Marsaxlokk and roman remains at Għajn Tuffieħa.