Last week the British Prime Minister stated at a summit in Finland that the world is reaching a crisis point on global warming faster than it thought. On a more local level, Malta's power plants are in urgent need of modernisation for us to do our part in reducing this problem.
On a legal level, to comply with EU standards for CO2 emission reductions, Malta must integrate clean renewable energy production with modern gas turbine systems. Today, Malta has a 571 MW capacity from its power plants in Delimara and Marsa. Current plans are for the Marsa plant to be closed in the future while the Delimara plant will be expanded and upgraded.
Five hundred and seventy-one MW of rated power will not sustain the escalating demand for energy. Growth in tourism is projected to increase Malta's energy consumption by approximately 50% by 2020. Rising fuel prices and energy dependence on other countries creates a situation of unstable and unpredictable energy prices in Malta.
As a critical component of the Maltese economy, the tourism sector counts on blue skies, clean water, a perfect horizon, and of course good air-conditioning systems. As well, the ever-rising numbers of eco-tourists are increasingly drawn to destinations that produce clean renewable energy. High and unstable prices associated with traditional energy production methods will decrease the competitiveness of Malta in relation to other tourist destinations.
The only energy resources that Malta has are renewable energies - wind, sun, and biomass. Of this group, wind energy is the most economically feasible. Other alternatives are much more expensive and less effective.
Wind energy requires space that is in short supply on the Maltese Islands. Previous investigations for possible onshore wind farm sites in Malta have pinpointed only a few areas, but each of which create a high level of visual impact. Further, according to the Malta Resources Authority (MRA), only very limited wind energy amounts are possible on shore in the Maltese Islands, amounting to roughly 1-1.5% of Malta's total energy requirements.
Offshore wind is a local asset that can provide a clean renewable solution for Malta's energy future. Specifically, there are sufficient offshore wind speeds and enough available space to easily supply 10-20% of total Maltese energy consumption.
By joining the EU in 2004, Malta accepted the Kyoto protocol conditions even though there was no specific CO2 emission reduction target pre-defined for Malta. Kyoto mandates that the EU reduce CO2 emissions by 8% before 2012. Malta can achieve this clean renewable energy target with one 100 MW offshore wind energy farm: a 100 MW wind farm can reduce Malta's annual CO2 emissions by approximately 250,000 tonnes (equivalent to a reduction of 9.8% of Malta's 2004 CO2 emissions level).
To ensure maximum benefit to the economy, offshore wind energy developers, when evaluating potential sites, must carefully evaluate the impact on tourism, fisheries, and other industries. In particular, the impact on the tourist industry, as one of Malta's foremost employers, warrants very close scrutiny. To protect the tourist sector against negative visual impact, offshore wind farms should be at least 10 km distance (preferably even 15-20 km) from the coast. This guideline is consistent with most European countries that have established rules for offshore wind energy development (UK, Germany and The Netherlands, among others).
Not only would they create negative visual impact, but turbines situated in Maltese coastal shallow water areas would conflict with local fisheries. For example, offshore wind turbines located at Sikka l-Bajda could have a direct negative economic impact on the Maltese inshore fisheries. In contrast, distant offshore wind farms pose little impact since the available sea area is much larger and therefore the effect of losing some space is clearly lower.
A challenge for distant offshore wind energy project developers off Malta is that the water depth generally increases with the distance from the coast. Most of the water depths beyond 10 km from the Maltese coastline exceed 100 metres - the Hurd Bank is one of the few exceptions, but it is an important protected environmental area. At the present time, no offshore wind turbines yet exist anywhere in the world in water deeper than even 50 metres.
Now Malta has the chance to be part of the future of offshore wind energy technology. Engineers around the world are working on deep-water wind energy technology solutions (e.g. in the US, Norway, UK, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands). Most are still in the design phase but two are close to realising their first prototypes. One prototype is planned for the German Baltic Sea while the other is already under construction in Italy for the Adriatic Sea.
Put simply, there are two different approaches to building deep-water platforms: the so-called "floating foundation" and the "tension legged platforms" (TLPs). For many years, TLPs have been widely used for deep-water operations in the oil and gas industry. Engineers are currently adapting TLP designs to create cost-effective solutions for deep-water offshore wind energy applications. As offshore technological developments go, this is something that should be relatively simple to accomplish: in the oil and gas industry waters of 500-2,000 metres are considered "deep", while for the offshore wind industry, "deep" only means depths of 50-200 metres.
Malta has a historic opportunity to become less dependent on foreign oil imports. Deep-water offshore wind energy will create local high-tech engineering jobs and will bring Malta international recognition as a progressive provider of clean renewable energy. A greener image will also positively impact Malta's tourist trade.
Further, with one particular offshore TLP design, aquaculture can supplement offshore wind energy operations. Malta is trying to relocate its existing aquaculture facilities further offshore to mitigate the effects of negative visual impact and pollution associated with inshore sites. Operators are naturally resisting the attempt to move their fish farms, claiming the currently proposed site in the middle of the sea presents a high risk of ship collisions.
On the other hand, offshore wind energy converters are highly visible by radar and will be clearly marked on nautical charts. As such, aquaculture cages moored to wind energy platforms will have a safe haven from high shipping collision risks.
Wind energy farms can supply electricity, storage, personnel, and economies of scale to support deep-water far offshore aquaculture. With this infrastructure, Malta can build a sustainable competitive advantage in the emerging far offshore aquaculture industry.
Furthermore, deep-water aquaculture in conjunction with offshore wind energy production can provide Malta with numerous jobs, exports, and support industry opportunities.
info@aquabt.com
AquaBioTech Group, www.aquabt.com, tel: 2398-0142