Malta Industrial Parks Ltd (MIP) has extended the deadline for the expression of interest (EOI) for the installation of photovoltaic panels on nearly 200,000 square metres on 155 factory roofs in industrial parks in Malta and Gozo, claiming that it was awaiting a ruling from the State Aid Monitoring Board.

The call also obliges the winner(s) to remove asbestos from around eight per cent of the roof space (16,751 sq.m.) on nine of the factories.

The call was meant to close last Thursday but there are a number of pending issues which have not yet been resolved. No new closing date was given.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) met MIP chief executive Joshua Zammit recently, warning that the call would not generate any serious bids unless it was dramatically revised.

One of the main problems is that there is insufficient information provided for the costings to be worked out,

“In its current state, fulfilling the requirements of the EOI without knowing the rate of return, soundness of roofs, other expenses involved and basic details such as who will own the PVs at the end of the contract, simply does not make sense,” GRTU chief executive officer Abigail Mamo said.

The GRTU is also concerned by the tender requirement for the size of the winning company and its past experience – which has a 20 per cent weighting in the evaluation process – saying that this could disqualify many of its members.

The document specifies that extra points will be given for applicants who have experience in PV installations with a minimum of 7.5 megawatts and the removal of 9,000 sq.m. of asbestos.

The bid bond is €150,000.