A promenade in Rabat will soon feature Malta’s first solar footpath, Infrastructure Malta has said, in a pilot project that will be used to determine whether similar systems can be installed in other public open spaces.

The solar footpath will be installed on the Għeriexem Road promenade and is expected to power 40 per cent of the road’s lighting, Infrastructure Malta said in a statement announcing the €70,000 project. 

It will feature 36 photovoltaic panels covering 40m2 and will be capable of generating more than 4,600 kWh of electricity per year, reducing emissions from fossil fuel-powered electricity by 21 tonnes a year. 

A digital display next to the solar footpath will provide live updates on the amount of energy generated by the footpath and its corresponding carbon dioxide emission savings. 

Works under way at the promenande. Photo: Infrastructure Malta

The footpath will use extremely thin photovoltaic cells that are covered with heavy-duty resins and polymers that can withstand pedestrian, cycling and light vehicle traffic without compromising on skid resistance. 

Infrastructure Malta said the footpath should be installed and function later this year, in parallel with ongoing works to rebuild the Għeriexem Road with a new promenade for safer pedestrian connections between Rabat and Mtarfa.  

Works on the €4 million project are currently focused on drilling a row of 270 piles that will serve to stabilise the road and nearby buildings while allowing Infrastructure Malta workers to dig trenches for underground water, sewage and telecoms services. 

The roads agency intervened in the area following concerns about it gradually sinking into the valley it faces. Interventions have involved the installation of 100 steel-reinforced concrete piles 15 metres into the ground, bridged together with a long concrete beam and 6,000 large limestone blocks covered in concrete.