A €2.8 million pilot project installing efficient street lighting will be carried out in Gozo and across 12 kilometres of roads in Malta. The project will involve the replacing of street lamps with more efficient bulbs.

Apart from having a longer life span, by some 60,000 hours, this project will make it possible to dim street lights, at certain times of the night. The intention is to eventually widen the pilot project to a nationwide scale. This EU co-financed project would cost €5.4 million.

Following energy audits on public buildings, a retro-fitting programme will also be launched to make such buildings more energy efficient. It is estimated that buildings account for 40 per cent of the total electricity consumption and so measures will be taken to make a number of public buildings energy sufficient.

One such project will be the upgrading of the lighting system at the Rużar Briffa block in St Vincent de Paul to a more energy efficient one ,at a cost of €6 million.

Another eco-friendly initiative will be carried out at the Siġġiewi Primary School, with the Government allocating €1 million on improving energy efficiency.

Incentives for domestic users include subsidies on the purchase of solar water heaters and roof insulation, with a total budget of €500,000. Families will also be handed the opportunity to consult energy audit experts to minimise energy consumption and thus save costs on utility bills.

The Government will draft a National Water Plan and launch an educational campaign on water conservation. Measures will be taken to strengthen the infrastructure to harvest rainwater.

In his speech, the Finance Minister said that the revision of the National Renewable Energy Action Plan is under way. This will enable the identification of policies and measures to be taken in order to reach set targets.

However, photovoltaic energy barely featured in his Budget speech, even though the Government restated its commitment to encourage clean energy. No grant schemes on the purchase of PV panels both for domestic and industrial users were announced.

There was also no mention about wind energy. In 2009, the Government had committed itself to study the feasibility of an offshore wind farm at Is-Sikka l-Bajda, off the Mellieħa coast.

The cost of this ambitious project was estimated to be in the region of €280 million to €335 million, and the plan was to issue a public call. The Government would then buy back the electricity generated.