Beyond blowing in the wind

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (May 15) says that Malta should use its own resources of energy, underlying the huge amount of energy untapped in Maltese waters. This is absolutely right. Furthermore, he observes that discussions on the matter were limited to wind farms and photovoltaic panels and refers to higher costs of offshore wind compared to onshore wind and to challenges related to the development of a near shore wind farm in Malta. In his opinion it is time to start thinking out of the box.

Last month, Blue H Technologies BV sent a preliminary application to the planning authority (Mepa) for a proposed offshore wind farm in Maltese territorial waters. The proposed site has a water depth of about 150 metres and is located 19 kilometres from shore. This site has been selected to minimise possible concerns from the diverse stakeholders with interests in Maltese waters, for instance: tourism, fishing, environment, aviation, military, shipping and undersea cables. It is already clear that wind energy projects proposed within six kilometres of the Maltese coastline will likely face stiff opposition from the tourist industry at the very least.

The proposed Blue H site is outside the no-go areas marked in the call for expressions of interest issued by the Maltese authorities in 2006, well outside conservation areas - whether they be natural habitats and/or protected monuments - and there are no traffic constraints from shipping or aviation.

The proposed location is feasible because of Blue H's unique deep-water wind technology enabling the installation of offshore wind turbines in sea areas of up to 300 metres of water depth.

Beyond simply promoting deep-water offshore wind energy, Blue H, since its incorporation in the UK in 2004, has also consistently promoted the use of wind energy in combination with other renewable technologies, such as the production of clean hydrogen. In this regard, the letter H in our company name - Blue H - stands for clean hydrogen, indicating that we ultimately intend to produce and store offshore clean hydrogen generated from of wind energy.

Blue H directly expressed its interest in investing in Malta early in 2006. Shortly thereafter, the Maltese Resource Authority called for an expression of interest to build an offshore wind farm in Maltese waters, to which we responded. It is on the basis of the original work, data and plans we had presented in 2006 in Blue H's response to the MRA's call for an expression of interest that we have submitted our application last month.

Blue H's Offshore Wind Farm Malta (OWF Malta) is planned to be constructed in two phases, ultimately reaching up to 108 MW rated power, with a production of about 300 million kWh per annum, equivalent to approximately 11 per cent of the electricity consumption of Malta in 2008. Referring to the recently-published report Feasibility Study For Increasing Renewable Credentials, by Mott McDonalds we have made our own calculations using their assumptions and our location as well as our investment costs. We came to the conclusion that, based on our technology, Blue H's solution is more cost effective and needs less high feed-in tariffs to make economic sense for outside investors.

Blue H's plan is built around the assumption that Blue H will attract third party private financing and not rely on government funds for the construction of the proposed wind farm. The need, however, is a fixed and sufficient feed-in tariff for 20 years.

At the heart of Blue H's solution is its submerged deepwater platform, which it has developed, based on the successful use of tension leg platforms in deepwater by the oil and gas industry over the last 30 years. There are several advantages of this technology when compared with conventional offshore wind foundations. Among other things, the floating parts are identical per wind farm, providing the opportunity for serial production. The counterweight that anchors the floating part to the sea bottom is gravity type, which is relatively easy to produce and install. The counter weight and the platform are connected by tendons (legs), which avoids using heavy and expensive lifting equipment offshore.

All in all, investment costs for Blue H are extremely competitive in depths of 75-150 metres, for instance, when compared with conventional offshore wind foundations in shallow water (say of 30 metres depth).

In its plan for Malta, Blue H intends to use, wherever possible, local resources to assemble and install the wind farm, particularly with regard to the building of SDPs in the harbour, followed by the entire transportation and installation operations. And, obviously, once the wind farm is installed, it needs to be maintained and operated, which provide long-term employment opportunities of highly-qualified experts.

Beyond creating a cost-effective plant to produce clean renewable energy, Blue H plans to invite third parties to benefit from this infrastructure at sea for additional use, notably aquaculture. By offering a clearly-marked safe aquaculture facility for offshore (19 kilometres) the OWF Malta provides an opportunity to address two frequent concerns of close to shore aquaculture: the negative visual of such farms and, in particular, the polluting effect that aquaculture can have on Maltese beaches and coastline. As well, the local economy can clearly benefit from such a combined plan, not least because of the operation of the facilities, the trade and handling of the products involved.

Offshore (deep water) wind is not only an economic issue, an environmental issue and a climate change issue but it is also a chance to increase scientific knowledge while addressing Malta's dependence on imported fossil fuels.

The author is commercial director of Blue H Technologies BV.