Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1017392
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 AUGUST 2018 7 PAUL COCKS SOLAR farms set up by the end of 2017 generated 155 gigawatts per hour, or around 6.5 percent of all electricity consumed in Malta, energy minister Joe Mizzi said today. In total, over 112 megawatts of pho- tovoltaic panels had been installed by the end of last year, following the launch of the government's Solar Farm Policy which offered a number of incentives for the setting up of solar farms larger than 1MW. Mizzi today announced that the gov- ernment was ex- tending the scheme by a further 35MW in a bid for solar energy to start producing up to 10& of the country's power needs and boost the country's use of renewable energy in line with its targets for 2020. 13 offers had been received under last year's scheme, including three that, between them, were allo-cated just under 15MW. As part of its overall energy strategy, the government also extended grants for families that invested in PV pan- els, benefiting from reduced electric- ity tariffs, the minister said. "Attractive feed-in tariffs, guaran- teed for 20 years, are also available to commercial and industrial oper-ators who choose to invest in PV technol- ogy." Mizzi said that, together with tax benefits offered by Malta Enterprise and the Energy and Water Agen-cy, these incentives were ensuring that the sector remain competitive and sustainable. "The government wants to ensure that all incentives are granted in the most transparent and effective man- ner possible, in line with the European Union's regulations on state aid," he said. "In fact, allocated tariffs varied be- tween 12.8c and 13.3c for every KW/ hour exported to the grid." All the measures introduced were projected to aid in the government's plans to have renewable sources pro- viding 10% of the country's energy needs, Mizzi said. NEWS 112 megawatts of photovoltaic panels had been installed by the end of 2017, producing 155 gigawatts per hour, or around 6.5% of Malta's electricity needs Solar farm policy scheme renewed following encouraging initial uptake Minister Joe MIzzi (left) said more needs to be done in line with the government's strategy on the use of renewable sources of energy THE elderly and poor families are experiencing an erosion in incomes because compensa-tion for the cost of living does not meet their everyday needs, anti- poverty activists said. The Anti-Poverty Alliance said the mechanism that sets the an- nual increase in wages and pen- sions is calculated on a basket of products and services that does not adequately re-flect the ex- penditure borne by poor families and the elderly. "Because of their low income, these people have a different basket of needs, which sees them spend more on basic necessities like food, rents and in the case of pensioners, medi-cines that are not always catered for by the national health service," the alli- ance said. It noted that recent statistics showed that the prices of these basic products and services in- creased at a faster pace than other items. It said inadequate compensa- tion meant that the value of wag- es and pensions was being erod- ed and causing more poverty. The alliance called on the gov- ernment to start correcting this imbalance in the next Budget that is due in October. Cost of living compensation inadequate for poor and elderly, Anti-Poverty Alliance says Anti-poverty activists claim annual cost of living compensation fails to ref lect the higher costs borne by the elderly and poor families