Alarm over SmartCity power requirements
The Ramblers' Association has expressed alarm over reports that energy requirements at SmartCity, when fully operational, will be double what was previously calculated.
"This huge leap in energy needs entails not only the construction of more substations but also a tremendous increase in emissions and in the national carbon footprint. Even with no SmartCity, Malta is far from reaching set targets. With Smart City Malta will almost inevitably be liable to legal procedures and fines of unprecedented and frightening consequence," the NGO said in a statement.
"We are informed that Article 5 of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive demands that the developer carries out an economic, environmental and technical study on the use of Combined Heat & Power (CHP), renewable energy, central heating and cooling etc. for such developments as Smart City. But Article 5 has not been transposed into Maltese legislation, with the result that Malta is facing serious infringement procedures," the Ramblers said.
The NGO asked why this regulation was not part of Maltese law . It also asked what the government was doing about the issue.
"National Interest is seriously at stake here. One would have expected Smart City to be smarter, not only in its respect for national heritage but especially in its calculations and its construction practices."
The Ramblers also referred to concerns by the Superintendence of Fortifications and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage over possible destruction of historical relics at the Smart City site and said a government explanation was due in such cases too.
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Raymond Sammut
Sep 1st 2008, 22:14
@ Joe Galea
You mean pie in the sky. And lots of them too.
Ing. Albert Ellul
Sep 1st 2008, 13:18
@L.Galea: If you know anything about wind turbines you would appreciate that these cannot just be put up anywhere, but at appropriate windy sites, where the prevailing wind is most powerful.
With regards to solar panels, i did propose that these are put up on the roofs of smart city itself. Kindly note.
E. Azzopardi
Sep 1st 2008, 11:58
Same as usual. We just say and promise things without any planning. Perhaps if we get the five promised bulbs,( when are we getting these, one month before the next election?) we can save a lot of energy and then this so called Smart City can function!!! This word ''Smart'' is being used very often but when you look around you and see all this filth , 24 hours a day then it does not sound right somehow. I hope this blitz as regards cleanliness will be effective and will be ONGOING.
r spagnol
Sep 1st 2008, 11:20
Smartcity has reached the local summit that much that Malta came to be known as "Smart Island". Now we have to be prepared for anything which may encounter this city. Maybe Minister Gatt is also prepared to turn SmartMalta into "Betting Malta" if anything happens to smartcity, who knows what can turn out???!!
Honestly I expected the Ramblers' Association to comment before on the development of the site, not only about energy requirements but also at the way the demolition process is being held. One simply has to go there to watch by himself the harmful effects of construction wastage onto the surrounding environment and the sea.
Yes, at the moment the government is keeping silent about smartcity. No official statement has been given out concerning the future of the damaged sewage pipes polluting the surrounding sea of the Xghajra coast. The authorities have to give out another explanation about where all that waste is being dumped. There are serious suggestions that this is being dumped directly into the sea.
Joe Galea
Sep 1st 2008, 08:38
Can anyone tell us when Smart City WILL start to operate? Up to now we heard a lot of WILL prophecies, like, it will create jobs, it will get us investment, etc.....smells like Castles in the Sky!!!
IT WILL, IT WILL, IT WILL....I hope it becomes IT IS.
Joe Galea
Sep 1st 2008, 08:35
Smart City should be so smart to get the power from natural sources mostly and the rest from a grid with Sicily. Moreover it seems if this Smart City doesn't function for Malta is the end of the world. This government is laying his eggs in one basket now, because the Par idejn Sodi and his former, shattered all the others...lol!!! Welcome to the deficit island!!
Trevor Schembri
Sep 1st 2008, 08:12
@Charles Micallef
Sir, your statement "strides forward that Dubai city has made in green issues / new energy sources on each and every project that they are constructing" seems rather exaggerated. I have been living in Dubai a number of years and bar the odd "environmentally friendly" project, I see very little that falls within the brackets of your statement.
The Rambler's Association concerns should be ours too.
Daniel Cannons
Aug 31st 2008, 21:19
Yes, I agree with you Charles on this one, we should be grateful for the jobs that will be provided, but where possible SmartCity should look at the greener solutions to its power and perhaps its waste too.
Joseph Schembri
Aug 31st 2008, 20:19
I don't want to sound cynical but I can't help thinking that all this smart city thing sounds too good to be true. Employment of 5000? Obviously I would like this to be true.
I wholeheartedly support organisations such as Ramblers' association and I'd like to join. However when we speak of Carbon Dioxide emissions keep in mind that we are but a drop in the ocean.
Charles Micallef
Aug 31st 2008, 17:55
Emmanuel Mazzetelli,
Regret that I cannot understand where either blogs over-reacted on the Smart City project, However if you have the opportunity to see the strides forward that Dubai city has made in green issues / new energy sources on each and every project that they are constructing, (incidentally Dubai is now the biggest construction site in the world), you will find where I'm coming from! my observation is that very little has been said about such issues in any of the statements issued on Smart City so far. One expects / hope that the planners are / will / be planning something similar to the Dubai projects for Smart City, nothing more or nothing less!
Emmanuel Mazzitelli
Aug 31st 2008, 15:14
Some bloggers' statements (vide Charles Micallef and Rita Spiteri) are an overreaction to the Ramblers' association concern. From what I can understand the Ramblers' Association is not against the SmartCity project per se. It is concerned about the potential environmental harzards brought about by the demand for additional power requirements and the fact that environmental impact assessment studies should have taken place to prevent potential or eventual hazards mainly by investing in alternative, innocuous sources of energy. I find nothing wrong in them expressing concern for the environment. I find it indeed strange that some should interpret this stance as an act against the SmartCity project and the students studying IT!
Charles Micallef
Aug 31st 2008, 10:58
I do not think that anyone in the right mind is against the Smart City Project, we should be grateful for the work that this will create and we are all also aware that is vital project for our children's and their children's future and also imperative to shore up our economy in general. However and although we have seen plans and models of the project, we have heard very little about sustainable energy issues that this project will be utilising when compared with the new developements that are shooting up in Dubai. I also do not think that there is nothing wrong that sustainable energy issue is brought to the forefront of discussions, as long as we are not shooting our mouths just for the sake of political principles which we are famous for !
Rita Spiteri
Aug 31st 2008, 07:59
The thousands of IT students who are spending thousands of Euros in studying because they want to work in SmartCity can always go to work in any EU counrty they have the opportunity now don't they?
L Galea
Aug 30th 2008, 21:45
@Ing. Albert Ellul
If its Smart it should also be Green, so what is wrong in using solar panel and wind generators on the site itself and not dump them somewhere else on the Island?
Why should other parts of the Island be used instead of Smart City itself?
Let Smart City be Smart and show us how Green it is.
TONY FORMOSA
Aug 30th 2008, 21:32
Are we to understand that the Ramblers managed to find out hidden details that the Maltese Government and the company that is to invest $300m in Smart City,replete with top experts, haven't got a clue about these details? Highly unlikely!
TONY FORMOSA
TONY FORMOSA
charles micallef
Aug 30th 2008, 19:20
There will be something wrong with the developers, if after all the heartaches that the world is going through with energy cost these days, and then a project like Smart City does not excel in green technology, I would like to think that this will be Smart 'Green' City with equal emphasies on the green and the smart!
A.Gauci Cunningham
Aug 30th 2008, 19:11
@ Evans ---Go and tell it to the thousands of IT students who are spending thousands of Euros in studying because they want to work in SmartCity!! Maybe Donald Trump would do them the honour and sign a cheque to reimburse them for all the lost money and doomed hopes!!!!!!
SmartCity is one of the best and biggest FDI ever to come to Malta and this is recognised by all the social and Political movements on this island......so lets make the best out of it!!!
Steve Evans
Aug 30th 2008, 18:24
How about turning the whole area into an International Upmarket Golf Course, and get Trump here,lets talk about going green instead, should help along cutting power requirements.
Doreen Spiteri
Aug 30th 2008, 18:21
Well done to Ramblers Malta for highlighting some of the shortcomings in the planning of Smart City. To ignore environmental concerns such as the carbon footprint as well as heritage concerns, smacks of hurried planning and not enough follow through. It is short sighted to rub one's hands gleefully at the projected jobs creation and ignore air quality and national heritage. Surely one does not exclude the other if proper planning takes place.
Kevin Johnson
Aug 30th 2008, 17:25
Leave SmartCity alone! It'll already be a miracle if we see it become a reality one day. Its importance for Malta is beyond imagination - especially with ST's uncertain future! The ramblers should be much more worried about their kids' future jobs rather than waste time with insignificant relics.
J Farrugia
Aug 30th 2008, 16:42
Ramblers please stick to rambling and let others take care of smart city.
Ing. Albert Ellul
Aug 30th 2008, 16:19
How about Smart City investors investing in RE (renewable energy) themselves, say covering Smart City structures with photovoltaic panels and possibly even investing in land based (forget offshore) megawatt wind turbines. The latter may be installed on the west or southwest coast of the island.
The cost of photovoltaics has gone down drastically these last months, having a payback period of less than 15 years, considering the current cost of oil.
Furthermore, if one is a little bit more practical, 20 Megawatt packaged nuclear power generators are readily available on the market, the size of a refrigerator, ready to generate steam to a steam turbine, has no Carbon footprint. and is perfectly safe. This requires a steam turbine and generator, and of course a drastic change in mentality.
Another option is to purchase electricity from the european grid, ideally from France where 80% of the electricity is generated by the atom. Thus we will have a good portion of our energy needs serviced by carbon-neutral sources.
A Cutajar
Aug 30th 2008, 16:17
The traffic generation aspect of this project is another important issue which needs serious planning unless we adopt a feasible underground mass transit system to service, amongst other, this new town all the way to Marsa area. Smartcity will be the largest private project by Maltese standards: its new resident and working population will reach, at least, the size of half of present-day Birkirkara when fully operational! And recreational, leisure and retail/tourism-related activities, likely to attract additional thousands of people, are not part of this equation!!
Energy requirements may be partially satisfied through the implementation of a near-shore wind-farm project off Xghajra coast. Otherwise, only a short-to medium-term upgrading of Delimara Power Station will satisfy the projected demand. In 10-15 years time this city may also benefit from the Malta-Sicily connection.
As for the traffic situation, it seems that no robust plans have yet been finalised. The existing traffic situation in the area (particularly the Zabbar-Fgura areas) is already critical, particularly when schools start from next month onwards, and holidaymakers return to their normal routine. Let alone with the increase of thousands of new cars that will use the largely inadequate Hompesch or Cawsli roads!
Manuel Micallef
Aug 30th 2008, 15:07
we have been taliking about a wind farm for about 10 years now.... nothing ever happens - only talk b y Austin and Co. ; Talk and promises are cheap - action is not;
this government doesn't have a Vision, and when it rarely has a vision, it has no clue how to implement it.
Joanne Micallef
Aug 30th 2008, 14:54
But Article 5 has not been transposed into Maltese legislation, with the result that Malta is facing serious infringement procedures,"
And who will foot the bill for these infringements??
This Nation needs to seriously wake up, we pay our goverment to take care of this country and our National interest, unfortunately it seems that he is failing badly in most areas. First we find out how our finanzi are anything but fis-sod, now this. In either case it is us the Tax payers that will be asked to foot the bill for this incompetence.
Mark Brincat
Aug 30th 2008, 13:51
We're always talking about alternative sources of energy but never do anything. I honestly wish the EU gives us a good fine for not reaching the set targets.
A.Mangion
Aug 30th 2008, 13:28
wHAT IS REALLY SCARY IS THAT MALTA'S ECONOMY SEEMS TO BE HINGING ON THE SUCCESS OR OTHERWISE OF THIS VENTURE. THE GOVERNMENT HAS PUT EVERYTHING ELSE ASIDE AND FOCUSED ON IT TO THE DETREMENT OF EVERYTHING ELSE. WHENEVER SOME GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE SPEAKS IT'S SMART CITY THIS, I.T. THAT.
Edward Zammit
Aug 30th 2008, 12:19
It's the usual, typical, Maltese way. Shoot first, ask questions later !
A Camilleri
Aug 30th 2008, 12:07
How about capping their surcharge as for the rest of industry??
George Mifsud
Aug 30th 2008, 12:05
Energy demands can be satisfied if you tap in the grid with Sicily - Do not let this be a white elephant.
But more care has to be done to look after the heritage of Malta - fortifications need protection of any development