Kurt Sansone
Government proposes three wind farm sites
Offshore farm to cost over €300m
The view from Għadira showing the proposed wind farm at Sikka l-Bajda.
Wied Rini in the limits of Baħrija, the Ħal Far industrial estate and Is-Sikka l-Bajda, just off the coast at L-Aħrax in Mellieħa are the three sites where wind farms will be considered.
The planning applications for the three sites will be submitted shortly but detailed studies are yet to be conducted to assess their suitability, the Prime Minister announced yesterday.
Sikka l-Bajda is the largest site with a potential to accommodate 19 large turbines generating enough electricity to supply 40,000 households.
The other two sites can cater for another 7,900 households.
In all, the electricity they generate will be equivalent to 9.6 per cent of Malta's electricity demand and the savings in carbon dioxide emissions are equivalent to that produced by 134,000 cars.
The wind farms would be dismantled after 25 years in operation.
Significantly, the selection of two land-based sites is a reversal of the decision taken four years ago not to opt for wind farms on land.
In the pre-budget document published in July 2005, the government had said it was not offering public land for the development of wind farms because of the negative aesthetic impact they might have.
At the time, the government was committed to study the potential of deep-sea wind farms further away from the coast, a prospect that was dumped last year when it became clear the technology was not commercially available.
Resources Minister George Pullicino said yesterday it was not a matter of the government having had a change of heart. "There were developments. Until today the deep-sea technology has not developed at the speed we were expecting four years ago and our country cannot wait to start achieving its targets," he said.
The site at Sikka l-Bajda reaches a depth of 30 metres, which is within the limits permitted by existing technology.
Launching the projects, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the government was not excluding anything, not even the development of deep offshore wind farms.
"However, we have to keep in mind that the government is bound by the EU target of producing 10 per cent of its energy demand from clean renewable sources by 2020. The country, therefore, does not have the luxury of being able to wait for new technologies without seeking to maximise all alternatives," Dr Gonzi said.
Wind energy would be contributing about 4.8 per cent to the 10 per cent target.
"Today's announcement marks the beginning of a detailed and open planning process where everyone will be invited to express himself," Dr Gonzi said.
He said the three sites had been identified after a number of studies and the government would be submitting to the planning authority project description statements for the proposed sites. He said the government had asked leading consultants to reach their own conclusions on which sites appeared to be best for the location of wind farms.
The offshore wind farm is expected to cost between €280 million and €335 million while the land projects would carry a price tag of between €13 million and €18 million.
The government will not be funding the capital investment for the projects. Instead, it would be issuing tenders for the wind farms to be built by the private sector. The government would then buy back the electricity generated.
Dr Gonzi said Malta would have to pay a heavy price if its target was not achieved. He insisted that the government's ultimate purpose was to boost the generation of clean energy, reduce dependence on oil, cut harmful emissions and, thereby, improve the quality of life of the people.
When asked whether he faced criticism from his backbench on the selected sites, Dr Gonzi said he had a positive discussion with them and "everybody agreed to await the outcome of the studies".
Reacting to the announcement, the Labour Party criticised Dr Gonzi for not publishing the technical studies commissioned throughout the years.
Environment spokesman Leo Brincat said some of the unpublished reports provided a negative assessment of the selected sites.
"The Prime Minister should not only publish all the studies but also the technical reactions including any minority reports that were contrary to the proposed wind farm at Sikka l-Bajda," Mr Brincat said.
He insisted people had the right to know whether the choice of the three sites was based on technical or political criteria.
Alternattiva Demokratika energy spokesman Ralph Cassar welcomed the decision.
"It is clear that no detailed investigations had been conducted till now but the proposed studies are a positive, even if long overdue, development. It looks like the whole process will be public and transparent," Mr Cassar said while calling for the introduction of support schemes for the generation of electricity by individuals.
Factbox: On wind farms
Site: Sikka l-Bajda
Electricity generated: 95MW = 40,000 households
Turbines: 19
Capital cost: €280 - €350m
Site: Wied Rini
Electricity generated: 10.2MW = 5,900 households
Turbines: 12
Capital cost: €13 - €18m
Site: Ħal Far
Electricity generated: 4.25MW = 2,000 households
Turbines: 5
Capital cost: €6 - €8m
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Philip Gauci (Brisbane Australia)
May 1st 2009, 23:54
When this monster is build (if ever) and you are lazing around on the sandy beach of Ghadira, just imagine you are staring at a frozen picture of the Middle Sea Race with all those yachts masts sticking out of the horizon..and you'l be fine.
Alex Ellul
May 1st 2009, 19:21
Burning hydrocarbon (HC) fuels is still the cheapest option to produce power. Burning HC's is actually utilizing solar energy that arrived on earth some millions of years back. Our craze to build wind-turbines to produce energy is a result of the hyped-up antropogenic-global-warming (AGW) theory, now called, for political convenience, Climate Change. The trillions of dollars/euros being spent globally in building renwables are coming out of our own pockets, making us less rich or more poor, depending on who we are. The truth is that all these expenses are unecessary, considering that global warming ceased around 1998 and by 2002 the planet started a cooling phase. These climate changes are all due to the solar cycles and not due to the 0.01% increase in CO2 gas in the lower atmosphere. CO2 gas is not causing global warming and this is proven by time, and scientifically proven by many scientists. Climate change science has been taken out of the scientists' textbooks, hijacked by politicians and turned inside out into a tax regime and power, excuse the pun, game. But in a few years time we will be blaming each other for this scam. Cont'd
Alex Ellul
May 1st 2009, 10:51
Cont’d/Scientific finacial grants that are being diverted for renewables are like throwing money down the drain, when such money should be utilised in researching safe nuclear energy which is already safe in the form of fission reactions, but still a bit far away from developing cheap nuclear fusion energy. Its not that we humans must keep burning oil, but as Shiek Yamani once said, "the stone-age era did not stop because people ran out of stone". Do turbines make us live better? This mania to forcibly move out of HC's is lowering the poverty line on a global level and carbon Cap-and-Trade politics will surely cause the poor countries to get poorer.
Turbines in Europe stopped working during this winter's big freeze, due to ice formation and long periods of low wind speeds due to the weather high-pressure systems that developed during these cold spells. Likewise wind speeds fall drastically during hot spells due to high pessures (in the case of Malta) when we need air-cons for our old chaps to survive the heatwaves.
There are emerging technologies claimed to be as economic as oil, clean and safe. Should we wait for these new techs?
dr joseph n borg
Apr 30th 2009, 18:29
this will inevitably gain political bias with time.
get experts in - real experts that is...................
'''Alternattiva Demokratika is calling on the government to confirm reports that German experts determined that Sikka l-Bajda was not suitable for a wind farm.
Chairman Arnold Cassola said AD had information that the experts had ruled it out and noted the Prime Minister had not yet published any studies about energy from the proposed wind farm at Sikka l-Bajda'''
Paul Barrett
Apr 30th 2009, 08:44
There is quite obviously and naturally a feeling of "not in my back yard" regarding wind turbines.
Unfortunately you can not have your cake and eat it. Malta needs to generate electricity locally and ideally as cheaply as possible and can not and must not rely on oil and nor should it rely in total on a cable from main line Europe.
The trick here is to give up as little in the way of valuable land but gain the most from land that has the least value. Offshore turbines are throwing money down the drain and will cost us dearly in comparison to onshore turbines.
On a "suck it and see" basis, erect five maximum size turbines on the edge of the Coastroad, linked up to the grid in line with the electricity already to be made from the landfill and then investigate the possibility of more in that area or somewhere equally uninhabited.
Once people have seen them in action it will be easier for them to judge for themselves rather than rely on hearsay and other rumours.
Whatever, there is no time to dither with endless arguments, get on with it now.
ALAN DEIDUN
Apr 30th 2009, 05:53
Dear friends - let's give the EIA process involved a chance. Government has only kickstarted the process at the moment - there will be no fastracking and the exhaustive process needs to take its course. The wind resource on site should be identified and quantified and the EIA will identify those environmental impacts which need to be mitigated. As chairman of the Committee of Wind Energy, together with the rest of the committee, we painstakingly identified all environmental impacts of the offshore project and made recommendations as to how these can be best mitigated.
It is crucial at this stage that, whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion, we let the technical people do the final recommendations, and that the process remains untainted politically. We should all be motivated by a single number and the implications of not achieving such a benchmark - i.e. that 10% of the energy we consume shoudl come from renewables by 2010, and for each 1% default, the fine amounts to 900 million euros. I trust that this is an overriding consideration.
andre muscat
Apr 29th 2009, 23:01
Forget offshore wind farming it costs over twice as much and with its higher maintenance lower production due to pedulum swinging and hence 20 years as opposed to 25 year life cycle It is going to cost three times as much and therefor not feasable.
Dear doctorate of economy if you pump that money into the local economy by producing pv cells and employ our engineers and workers to construct for 40,000household + airport and schools with solar geysersand pv units and maintain them for the next 10 years you will reduce drastically your deficit + you will boost the economy out of recession and generate wealth and energy from your citizens instead of corporate profit and shareholders on the stockexchange.The bubble has burst and you need to create a pakage to stimulate main street economy as Barakobama is doing!!!!!!! so even if we went to the extreme of giving 350m free to the maltese economy you would still be better off then paying the initial capital to foreigners!!!!
From joe the plumber.
dr joseph n borg
Apr 29th 2009, 22:46
any one with half a brain cell would first set up a pilot project and see. set one up and see what it acually involves, its visual impact and what you get out of it. then you might start thinking on a bigger scale at appropiate sites - not sikka l-bajda
Robert Scullion
Apr 29th 2009, 19:52
@GaleaL
I have to agree with you on this one.
Its possible that the 25 year life span is simply the existing wind turbines and they can get replaced, but thats many years down the line and probably better to be decided nearer then.
Strangely I kinda like the idea of being able to look out at the horizon and see them. I think it would add something rather than just looking at a line where the sky meets the water. But thats just my opinion.
Perhaps they could be arranged in a formation so when viewed from aircraft it could mean something (Maltese Cross??) .. make it an extra attraction for tourists etc.
Ms. E. Huy
Apr 29th 2009, 19:35
I find it a real pity that so many ppl consider wind-farms eyesores, especially considering the current eyesores of airconditioners, aerials, satellite dishes, and not to mention the electrical cables and the Marsa powerstation itself!!! So many eyesores are around us which we choose to ignore, and most of them are due to bad implementation and sheer neglect.
This technology is clean, has minimal impact on the environment and spares us the hideous sights that the current conventional energy companies have offered us.
As regards noise. This is a complete misconception. It is true that the first models were noisy, however like any other type of developing technology, this glitch has been significantly reduced. Current turbines are virtually silent, thanks to reducing the tips of the blades, making them more aerodynamic, and allowing the blades to turn when the wind shifts.
It is not my job to convince ppl to think differently, yet I do want to encourage the government to stage a public demonstration to increase the public's awareness and acceptance of this new and necessary technology, instead of forcing it upon them without proper understanding of the possibilities wind-farms have to offer.
Brandon Camilleri
Apr 29th 2009, 18:58
I am utterly in dismay as to what I read. People seem not to want Bahrija and Ghadira and do not even say a word for Hal Far as it seems that the goverment has reduced the area including Birzebbuga a land that is fit only for animals. The area has been filled with industrial pollution in the form or air pollution from the concrete and chemical plants; light pollution from the Freeport and noise pollution from the Freeport and aircraft. Besides that we are polluted with illegal immigrants which are even taking our shoreline.
And now the goverment wants to introduce the wind farms to give us a 24X7 humming sound all year round. This is unbeleivable as there is no other place in the whole country with all this varying pollution. Don't we pay the same tax as the other locals? Doesn't teh goverment realise that it is creating another port area in Birzebbuga and Hal Far and in 30 years time millions will have to be spent to recover this once beautiful prisitne area. And what about the landing aircraft and flight path?
I expect The Times to give an artisitc impression of Hal Far as well.
Robert W. Ciantar
Apr 29th 2009, 18:53
Wow,... how very impressive...
Would be simply stunning to see these windfarms,... especially when either fishing, sailing or boating on location......
Not only are we thinking re-locating other industries currently in a prime turistic area (Mellieha, St.Pauls Bay, Ahrax) ... but we are considering of increasing such,..... how very impressive,..... my compliments to whoever came up with this idea...... just gorgeous.... not to say simple nonsense.
Sander depaquale
Apr 29th 2009, 17:30
First of all I agree with wind farms and I think that "is-sikka l-bajda" is one of the ideal locations for a wind farm in Malta.
But I do not agree with the proposal of 19 X 5MW wind turbines for two reasons.
1. The visual impact of shown in the photo published is mistaken completely. 5MWs wind turbines are 120m tall with 126m diameter rotor and is-sikka l-bajda is 3km from shore. The image given in the picture is the image as the wind turbines will be seen from Sliema front! I suggest smaller wind turbines such as 1.65MW wind turbine of vestas with a hub height of 70m and rotor diameter of 82m.
2. The average wind speed in Malta is 6.5m/s at the sikka l-bajda. And the huge wind turbines proposed will not cut in. So smaller wind turbines makes them more efficient. Is there a publication with the wind speeds of the area, has a mast been erected?
The government's proposal is to install small wind turbines on shore hence reduced visual impact of land based wind turbines, I agree witht he size but I am against the large no proposed.
S Ferrito
Apr 29th 2009, 17:14
In my opinion wind farms at Sikka l' Bajda will be an eysore and will ruin Ghadira bay. This Bay is very beautiful as it is. I also think it is Malta's safest bay as swimming is concerned, both for children and also for the "not very good swimmers", hence it is relativley safer than other bays, therefore a preferred family realxing spot during the Summer months!!! Whichever site is chosen I hope that SOUND POLLITION IS TAKEN SERIOUSLY INTO CONSIDERATION AS WIND FARMS ARE VERY NOISY!!!
Margaret Buhagiar
Apr 29th 2009, 15:02
Thank you! Now we are also going to destroy the only quite place we have on the island. What do you think we people of bahrija are all up here is still very remote we do not even have busses!! Our cable tv is always out of order our telephones more often then not are out of order.
The only good thing we have is the peace and quite now please leave us in peace!!!!!
dr joseph n borg
Apr 29th 2009, 15:02
This is madness. Our largest sandy beach, one of our largest tourist attraction and one of the few unspoit areas left. I consider this as an Ghadira wind farm - they call it 'qolla s-saffra' to sound better but its there in your face in ghadira bay. You ( we, tourists) go there to unwind, look out at the horizon and relax, now you look out and get that industrial, 'world's gone mad' feeling you have tried to get away from. Can't see tourists going back and saying 'yeh, go to malta , their best beaches are enclosed in windfarms!!'. I agree we need this but not where its visual impact will hit so many.
I have yet to see the spanish, french or italians screw up their rivieras like this. Big, big mistake
N. Grech
Apr 29th 2009, 14:54
I live in the US where the first offshore wind farm is about to be constructed - 130 turbines (450MW). It took 8yrs of bickering over the biggest issue - the eyesore - and look at the size of their coast!. This is a common problem faced in the EU so they're studying technology for deeper waters further offshore. Also, when shoals are in play, it becomes more than an issue of spoilt view - certain fishing activities will be curtailed depending on gear used, although it may be argued that the turbines can act as "artificial reefs".
The 25yr issue - currently wind farms are perceived to have a life span of ~20yrs, probably the reason for the 25 yr thing - but why dismantle? To upgrade? If anything 25 yrs from now we are more likely to depend on renewable energy resources considering depleting oil and climate change!
On the other hand, what about Malta's greatest resource, the sun? Technology has advanced in this and it is important that the possibility of utilizing this is examined...
Regarding linking to Sicily - connections to grid >40km are considered to be not efficient enough to make it a viable option.
E Caruana
Apr 29th 2009, 13:22
I prefer to replace the wind farms with solar panels, as our country benefits from solar energy all year round.
jesmond zammit
Apr 29th 2009, 13:16
i think all this is not going to happen ,like other proposed projects are still stuck
Claudio Farrugia
Apr 29th 2009, 13:04
I believe in the need to invest in alternative energy and I also understand the limitations of space of this tiny island we live in. But the choice of sikka l-bajda is a terrible blunder. I do not think that tourists, and us Maltese, would cherish the sight of those masts out at sea. This popular and picturesque bay is going to be ruined. All for the sake of sustainability! Don’t we need to sustain tourism as well?
K Farrugia
Apr 29th 2009, 12:23
Dismantled after 25 years? Then what? So we spend 300m just for 25 years? 12m p/a? Isn't a much longer term solution better? How about as many already suggested, subsidizing households to get photo voltaic cells on their roof tops?
J. Borg
Apr 29th 2009, 11:47
HAVE THE EXPERTS CONSIDERED THE FEASIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING THESE WIND FARMS IN SICILY?
It will be more cost effective and allows for better management of our restricted land area.
Manuel Briffa
Apr 29th 2009, 11:30
Is this a sick joke or what??!!...Is this how our main and one of the Island's few decent beaches is going to look in future??...I dare say we've completely lost the plot !
GaleaL
Apr 29th 2009, 11:28
Why shouldn't more wind turbines be built on land when the cost is extremely much less that if they are built at sea?
Why should they be dismantled after 25 years of operation if they are still working or perhaps better technology be available and the same supporting structures used again?
c.caruana
Apr 29th 2009, 11:22
Where are we going to get all these millions?
Does these windfarm do any harm to our environment regarding noise etc.....
Phil Humphries
Apr 29th 2009, 11:07
How many times does a nation have to shoot itself in the foot ? - Not content with scarring the South and turning Sliema into a concrete nightmare, the government now seeks to ruin Malta's most popular tourist beach.
Undoubtedly we need to become less dependent on oil and we should be utilising alternative energy sources, but is this really the best site for an offshore wind farm?
I've no doubt we will be told that the experts favoured a large onshore wind farm and that the Government choose the offshore alternative in order to protect tourism... Well they might as well site it on top of Marfa Ridge for all the difference it will make ( or is that their ultimate goal ? ). The Hotels that depend on Ghadira beach to attract tourists are already facing a lean season ( ironically, the windy weather over Easter didn't help ) so just imagine what an unsightly wind farm will do for their business. They might be able to keep the turbines out of the brochure photos but the travel writers and the visitors blogs will ensure that there won't be a need to enlarge the beach.
R Sammut
Apr 29th 2009, 10:54
€350m + €18m + €8m + some budget overrun = €400m
€400m divided by 400,000 people in Malta = Eur 1000 p.p
I think it would have been better had the government give a subsidy of Eur 1000 per person per household to install domestic solar panels or wind turbines.
It makes sense that the more people in a household, the more energy required...
Paul Formosa
Apr 29th 2009, 10:00
I don’t know what happened to this country and when, but every time someone is trying to do something everybody is against it. For the love of this small country can we for once stop criticizing and sit down and work as one independent nation guys we the people of Malta are fed up with your red tape please act in the interest of the Maltese people please. Please.