A follow-up performance audit on the progress registered in the exploitation of renewable energy sources in Malta has been presented to Parliament by the Auditor General.
The study was requested by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee during its deliberations of the performance audit report: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Malta, published in September 2009.
The follow-up audit noted the current initiatives and plans devised by various governmental entities, intended to further stimulate the use of renewable energy in Malta, appropriately address the recommendations proposed by the office in 2009.
It said that Malta’s progress amounted to only one third of its 2010 projected renewable energy targets indicated in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan.
It noted that the energy policy development process, which also embraces renewable energy sources, has gathered significant momentum.
Work related to policies on the exploitation of renewable energy sources within the transport sector has also commenced.
Following scheduling revisions and the recent appointment of the Strategic Environment Assessment Audit Team, the energy policy process is now expected to be concluded in August.
Upon conclusion of this process, the government may consider to formally endorse Malta’s energy policy.
Generally, operational plans have been or are in the process of being developed to support the implementation of policy provisions related to the generation of energy from renewable sources.
Various projects and programmes are currently being undertaken to stimulate the further exploitation of renewable energy as are studies, such as those relating to the feasibility of wind farms. Waste to energy projects have also recently been commissioned.
Additionally, the industrial and domestic sectors are being encouraged to further exploit solar energy through rebate grant schemes applicable on the installation of photovoltaic panels and solar water heaters.
Improved feed-in tariffs have also contributed to stimulate the exploitation of solar energy.
The follow-up concluded that the rebate grant schemes and the feed-in tariffs constituted value for money to both the government and consumers.
However, the implementation of the renewable energy programme, as outlined in the NREAP was subject to delays.
Such delays, which were mainly of an administrative and technical nature, led to the non-attainment of the 2010 renewable energy targets indicated in this document.
Despite the implementation delays, the progress registered to date and revised plans indicate that Malta will be in a position to fulfil its EU trajectory targets – the first of which falls in 2012 – and ultimately its obligatory 2020 EU renewable energy targets.
Fulfilling these obligations is, however, dependant on the current drive being sustained to maintain project implementation delays at a minimum.
Moreover, the attainment of Malta’s 2020 targets remained critically dependant on the feasibility and eventual implementation of major projects, as well as the interest in the proposed projects by potential investors.
The full report may be downloaded from the NAO’s website as from tomorrow.
MINISTRY WELCOMES REPORT
The Resources Ministry welcomed the auditor’s conclusions which, it said, indicated progress by Malta in the use of renewable energy.
It said that the latest European Commission’s directive, which superceded all others, was that member states should generate some of their energy from clear sources.
According to this directive, as well as according to Malta’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan, the country did not have targets to reach in 2010 and its first target was to have two per cent of its energy from clean source in 2011-2012. This was part of the country’s obligation to reach the 10 per cent target by 2020.
The ministry said that the government had issued a call for expressions of interest for the supply of photovoltaic panels on 67,000 metres of roofs on public buildings.
Currently, there were more than 30 systems on these buildings to generate electricity.
A study for land and sea windfarms was being held and the Sant’Antnin plan, which is to generate electricity for 1,400 fa milies has been modernised.
A total 6,700 families in Malta and Gozo invested in equipment which generated clean energy in the past two years through financial assistance given by the government.
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