Mizzi claims Malta on track to meet renewable targets as new PV scheme launched

Minister Konrad Mizzi said that Malta is on track to reach its renewable energy targets as he unveiled a new scheme to encourage people to switch to solar energy.

Through the EU-funded scheme, people who invest up to €2,300 in photovoltaic panels will be refunded 50% of their costs. The scheme is the first of three EU-funded subsidy schemes for solar panels, worth a combined total of €15 million.

The scheme is open to around 7,000 households and will run on a first come, first served basis. Successful applicants will then benefit from a feed-in tariff of 16c5. Applications will open on 30 May.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stripped Konrad Mizzi off his energy and health portfolios following revelations of his offshore interests, but retained him as a “minister without portfolio within the Office of the Prime Minister”.

Bound by the EU 2020 targets, Malta must produce 10% of its energy through renewable sources by the year 2020. The previous Nationalist administration had originally planned to see the generation of up to 4% of Malta’s energy consumption derived from an offshore wind farm off Mellieha. However, the Labour government has decided to focus solely on solar energy.

A European Commission report last November warned that Malta was unlikely to meet its renewable energy targets.