Christmas trees decorated with 230 energy-efficient LED lamps have been inaugurated at St George's Square, Valletta, and St Anne Square in Sliema.

Smart Lights Ltd, the company which sponsored the installations and the LED lamps on the spiral yuletide trees, said 30 days of running the lights on the tree would cost the grand total of €6, compared to €324 for normal bulbs. Each LED uses 1 watt of energy while producing the equivalent light of a 20 watt bulb.

That said, however, the lamps and their installation cost €10,000 – sponsored, however, by the company.

While the costs may not work out for these particular trees, director Jonathan Borg argued that the Maltese-manufactured LEDs would pay themselves back in six to seven months time in a commercial setting.

The trees, he said, were set up to help the Christmas atmosphere and also raise awareness on the efficiency of this technology.

Present for the lighting of the tree in Valletta was Resources Minister George Pullicino, who recalled that the newly-restored St George's Square was inaugurated exactly a year ago and was a stark difference to what there was before.