Malta’s wind energy project

Further to the government’s public call for tenders to develop an offshore wind energy project, it is worthwhile to make a few pertinent considerations.

The project will be located 12 nautical miles off the Maltese coast, with six potential areas already identified and covering nearly one-third of Malta’s electricity consumption. It will primarily utilise floating wind turbines and have a public-private venture for its realisation and completion.

Much study had been conducted before a final decision was taken to go for this offshore project.

For one thing, offshore wind speeds tend to be faster than on land and small increases in wind speed yield large increases in energy production. For example, a turbine in a 25-kph wind can generate twice as much energy as a turbine in a 20-kph wind. Faster wind speeds offshore mean much more energy can be generated.

Also, offshore wind speeds tend to be steadier than on land. A steadier supply of wind means a more reliable source of energy. Our coastal areas have very high energy needs. A great chunk of the Maltese population lives in coastal areas, and building offshore wind farms in such areas can help to meet those energy needs from nearby sources.

Furthermore, they provide renewable energy, do not consume water, provide a domestic energy source, create jobs and do not emit environmental pollutants or greenhouse gases.

Wind power creates good-paying jobs. Wind turbine service technicians can be the fastest-growing Maltese job of the decade. Offering career opportunities ranging from blade fabricator to asset manager, the wind industry has the potential to support hundreds of more jobs by 2050. Incidentally, this potential was hardly hinted at in Malta Vision 2050.

Our wind energy project can be a domestic resource that enables further Maltese economic growth. Foreign direct investments in this great project can add much to our economy, considering that wind energy’s cost competitiveness continues to improve with advances in the science and technology of wind energy.

The project itself will be a clean and renewable energy source. Wind turbines harness energy from the wind using mechanical power to spin a generator and create electricity. Not only is wind an abundant and inexhaustible resource, but it also provides electricity without burning any fuel or polluting the air.

Of course, it will not be a smooth ride at all.

Being 12 nautical miles out, installation challenges must be overcome to bring electricity from wind farms to urban areas, where it is needed to meet demand. Fortunately, offshore wind energy transmission and grid interconnection capabilities are improving.

The production and installation of power cables under the seafloor to transmit electricity back to land can be very expensive.

Regarding upfront costs, wind farms or individual turbines can be expensive to install. However, once up and running, operating costs are relatively low; their fuel (wind) is free, and the turbines don’t require too much maintenance throughout their lifetime.

Be that as it may, a wind turbine’s effectiveness in generating electricity depends on the weather. Thus, it can be difficult to predict exactly how much electricity a wind turbine will generate over time. If wind speeds are too low on any given day, the turbine’s rotor won’t spin.

This means wind energy isn’t always available for dispatch in times of peak electricity demand. To use wind energy exclusively, wind turbines need to be paired with some sort of energy storage technology, something that Malta’s project has duly considered.

One particular downside can be that a wind turbine’s blades are very large and rotate at very high speeds. Unfortunately, their blades can harm and kill species that fly into them, like birds.

But that’s a small problem compared to other serious issues.

Open seas, further from shore, will expose the turbines to stronger wave action, and even very high winds, particularly during heavy storms or gale-force winds, can damage wind turbines.

In these harsher conditions, an increased strain is placed on the turbines and their supporting infrastructure. This adds a sharp focus on real-time diagnostics, preventative maintenance and recovery plans for the subsea infrastructure as well as the topsides.

There are also some typical problems that can arise, drawing from experience abroad where such wind energy projects were realised. Fatigue or damage to the cable protection systems, seabed scour or cable damage in and around the turbine base, and the emergence of free spans or de-burial due to seabed mobility are some of them.

From an environmental and economic point of view, offshore wind farms built within view of the coastline, as will be the case, may be unpopular among residents and may affect tourism and property values. This concern is no far cry at all.

The project’s planning phase must, at some point in time, consider the decommissioning stage. Much of a turbine’s materials can be easily recycled, including steel, aluminium and copper. However, the composite blades, which contain non-decomposable fibreglass, are challenging to break down and recycle.

This national energy project sounds and looks grandiose. We can only hope that the government will carefully plan and diligently execute every stage of the process.

Successfully realised with no overtones of corruption suspicions or bad governance, the project has the potential to turn out to be a game-changer for Malta’s energy sector.