The Government is working on a proposal for a photovoltaic farm that would be open for people to invest in through subsidy schemes, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
People without roofspace for solar panels would be invited to become shareholders
He said that while many people had been helped to reduce their energy bills through subsidies on photovoltaic panels, those who lived in apartments could not install PV panels. The Government, therefore, was considering setting up a photovoltaic farm to generate electricity.
People who do not have roof space to put solar panels would be invited to become shareholders in the photovoltaic farm and benefit from its return.
People would also benefit from a reduction in generation costs that would follow the commissioning of the power station extension and the grid interconnector to Italy.
The project hit a serious snag when, late last month, one of the new turbines at Delimara developed major damage during testing, delaying the plant’s commissioning by six months.
Dr Gonzi stressed that all eight engines at the Delimara power station extension could be switched on immediately but the Government was insisting on having the ninth turbine working before having the plant handed over.
This ninth turbine converts heat generated from the other turbines into steam and, in turn, into electricity.
Speaking during a political activity in Mqabba, Dr Gonzi challenged Labour leader Joseph Muscat to make public his energy plans and tell the people how and when he was going to reduce their water and electricity bills.
He referred to the debate he had with Dr Muscat on the TV talk show Xarabank on Friday evening and said that more than 48 hours later he was still without replies to questions he had asked him on the night.
Earlier in his address, Dr Gonzi said that the Labour Party’s efforts to strike people off the Electoral Register showed that the party had not changed and would not change.
Dr Gonzi said the Nationalist Party always believed that everyone should have the right to vote and be able to vote.
Voting was a serious matter and people could not afford to make mistakes.
It was worrying, he said, that the PL was doing its best to strike off the Electoral Register Maltese people who were working, studying abroad or even living abroad for medical reasons.
“The PL is about making heads roll. It is carrying out an audit, even in the eligibility of voters,” he said.
He noted that Labour MP Helena Dalli had said that a Labour government would carry out an audit of the public service. Dr Gonzi argued that this meant that the PL intended scanning people for their political leanings.
In a statement reacting to the Prime Minister’s comments, the PL said that Dr Gonzi should put his mind at rest about Labour’s energy plans, adding that these will be unveiled when the PN announced its electoral manifesto.
“It is ironic that the Prime Minister does not want to say what the Budget will contain in a few weeks’ time but insists on knowing what others plan to do in the coming months.”
Nobody believed that Dr Gonzi would be doing what he was promising, the PL said.
As for the criticism of Labour’s court action to strike ineligible voters off the Electoral Register, the party said it found Dr Gonzi’s attack worrisome, given that the party was only following the law to ensure a clean general election.