Focus on renewable sources of energy - May 26, 2004

"The use of renewable energy, especially solar energy, offers a great potential for southern Europe. As Germany's national energy agency, DENA (Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH) is active in promoting the use of renewable energy at home and in other countries, we worked hard to bring its touring exhibition - Renewables Made in Germany - to Malta in order to provide information on the many advantages of renewable energy and show a diversity of options for its use."

This was stated by German Ambassador Georg Merten during the inauguration of the touring exhibition which is in Malta for the next two weeks. The exhibition was made possible through the initiative of the embassy in Malta and the German-Maltese Chamber of Commerce with the collaboration of the Mosta Technopark Tenants Association (MTTA), which has made the Technopark available for the exhibition.

Mr Merten said it was a great honour for him to inaugurate the exhibition as a means to assist Malta in adopting renewable energy sources and using Germany's vast experience in the sector.

"In the past few years, Germany has experienced rapid development in the use of renewable energy and is now an international frontrunner. It has the world's largest wind power sector with more than 14,600 MW of installed capacity and the world's second largest solar power sector with 400 MW peak capacity. It is also a leader in other fields of technology. Renewable energy provides some eight per cent of the electricity in Germany and 3.5 per cent of heat. Renewable energy sources are expected to cover 50 per cent of primary energy demand by 2050," he added.

Mr Merten said the German government has paved the way for developing the market in renewable energy.

"An international conference on renewable energy will be held in Bonn, Germany, next month entitled Renewables 2004. A delegation from Malta, including journalists, will be attending the event at the invitation of the German federal government."

German-Maltese Chamber of Commerce president Henry Borg said the driving force behind the renewable energy boom in Germany was its strong domestic industry.

"More than 130,000 people are already at work in this sector, in research, production, system planning and installation. German businesses invested early on in developing renewable energy technology and introduced high-performance products to the market. Domestic consumers' high expectations motivate the continuing optimisation and development of products. German standards for the production and selection of appropriate system components set international standards of quality," he said.

The exhibition is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the administration building of the Mosta Technopark.