Plans are under way to launch a study into the feasibility of a land-based wind farm, The Times has learnt.

The Prime Minister briefed the Nationalist Party parliamentary group on Monday during a presentation on the subject, which included a discussion on the ongoing study for an offshore wind farm at Sikka l-Bajda, off Mellieħa.

An announcement is expected in the coming days.

So far, the government steered clear from the politically-sensitive idea of onshore farms but it was being advised that the offshore farm being studied would need to be supplemented if Malta were to achieve its renewable energy targets by 2015, sources close to the parliamentary group said.

Earlier this month, Alternattiva Demokratika said foreign experts had told the government the offshore wind farm planned at Sikka L-Bajda was not viable. However, the information was flatly denied by the Resources Ministry.

The Greens mentioned a report by German experts deeming the project unviable. "Let the government prove us wrong... which I hope we are, for the country's sake. Can we see the experts' results," AD chairman Arnold Cassola asked.

However, a ministry spokesman said: "We have no such information". The spokesman would not reveal the experts' conclusions when asked for them, saying they would be made public "at the opportune moment".