Renewable energy: 'A business opportunity for Malta'

Malta can play a major role in getting companies interested in research and design of renewable energy and energy efficient goods, developing and testing them in Malta and showcasing them from here, Anton Bartolo, from The Euro-Mediterranean Initiative for Technology and Innovation, said yesterday.

Mr Bartolo was speaking at a seminar on the theme Renewable Energy And Energy Efficiency, A Business Opportunity For Malta.

He said EuroMedITI aimed to develop a technology and innovation platform in the Mediterranean for business-driven services in training, applied research and development, testing and prototyping in the region.

"This will appeal directly to industries searching for a location to execute applied research and development under favourable conditions, and a hub to access the emerging Mediterranean market of approximately 400 million people," he said.

The seminar was organised by the German Embassy in collaboration with the Euro-Mediterranean Initiative for Technology and Innovation and Fraunhofer Institute SIT (Malta), with the support of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and the Federation of Industry. It was held at the Chamber's premises in Valletta.

German Ambassador Baron Karl Andreas von Stenglin, who opened the seminar, said energy was one of the priorities of the German European Union presidency. He said the purpose of the seminar was to convince Maltese companies and businesses that environmental technologies and technologies related to renewable energy and energy efficiency had great prospects.

"Research, development and innovation were of great importance in this fast moving sector and this is also feasible for SMEs in Malta," he said.

Ambassador von Stenglin said that in Germany, conservative estimates showed some 0.46 per cent of the labour force was in renewable energy sectors, and though this might sound insignificant, it could mean around 700 jobs in Malta.

Olaf Fleck, CEO of Sunset Energy Group, argued for the use of solar energy both because of job creation as well because of security of supply of energy and of price. Mr Fleck said solar energy often had a bad name because people were not happy with the results after buying the wrong type of equipment which was often also badly installed.

"Like with anything else, in solar energy, you get what you pay for. If you don't pay a decent price and get professional installers you won't get good results," Mr Fleck said.

Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit said the government had introduced incentives to encourage the use of solar, photovoltaic and other forms of renewable energy. It was also exploring the feasibility of constructing offshore wind farms which may give a major contribution to the total electricity demand.

Mr Zammit said the government was in favour of sustainable and cost effective renewable energy. But one had to keep in mind spatial limitations and that the technology was still expensive when compared to commercial generating systems.

At the end of the seminar Ambassador von Stenglin opened an exhibition on the theme Renewables Made In Germany. The exhibition deals with wind power, photovoltaics and solar power, solar thermal installations, bio energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. It is a showcase providing information about the most important German industries, products and companies involved in the renewable energy sector that have an array of solutions for different needs.

The exhibition has been set up in Madrid, Melbourne, Tokyo and Shanghai before coming to Malta.