Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1146457
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JULY 2019 COMMERCIAL EY Malta is accepting applications for another year of EY360 - a fast-track two- year ACCA Programme powered by the Academy of Business Leaders (BLM). The programme, named after the all- round, full-on experience students can expect to have, is highly focused and of- fers a fast route to becoming a qualified, professional accountant, as well as gain- ing valuable work experience with EY, one of the Big Four firms. The programme culminates in the stu- dent becoming ACCA qualified and se- curing full-time employment with EY. Students will benefit from a structured approach that will be hosted on site at the new state of the art EY Connect Centre, as well as lectures provided by EY industry experts. EY believes that its hands-on approach, with the dedication of the students and lecturers, has proven to be very success- ful. Ronald Attard, EY Malta's Country Managing Partner, highlighted "The key to EY360 is that the student's goals are placed at the heart of the programme. We are very proud of this develop- ment programme which will provide ongoing support to help grow students' strengths, maximise their opportunities, and have a lasting impact." For more information on EY360 and how to apply please contact Nicole. kritzinger@mt.ey.com EY Malta opens EY360 applications – a fast track ACCA programme THE Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) this week organised the FLASC dis- semination event which took place at Esplora Interactive Sci- ence Centre, Kalkara. Presently, renewable sources have to immediately sell all the energy they produce. If there is no immediate demand it is wast- ed. The Floating Liquid-piston Accumulator using Seawater un- der Compression (FLASC) pro- ject which is an energy storage technology tailored for the off- shore environment is a solution to this problem. Developed by the University of Malta and Medserv plc, a local oil & gas logistics company, the system uses pressurised seawater and compressed air to store ener- gy from intermittent offshore re- newable resources such as wind, wave, tidal and floating PV, along with liquefaction of natural gas, water injection in oil wells and water desalination. It is designed for use in the tough offshore environment, to match the lifetime of contempo- rary wind turbines and is cost- competitive with li-ion batteries, with the added advantage of not relying on hazardous chemicals. It is best suited for floating sys- tems since it integrates directly into the platform itself. This is a key advantage, since storage is located at the point of generation while also remaining within the footprint of the float- ing renewable energy device. The investment in this technology enables our country to rely less on importing fossil fuels, plus improving the air quality and the environment around us. The FLASC project has been made possible through the FU- SION R & I Technology Devel- opment Programme (TDP) of MCST. Almost 16 million Euro have been awarded to local re- searchers, public and private entities between 2004 and 2018 through the TDP programme. The R & I Unit at MCST is cur- rently working on developing the FUSION programme further to be able to help the local research community. Medserv plc. were crucial in the development, testing and proto- typing of a certain scale. This prototype was deployed in Grand Harbour, and operated over one year, undergoing hun- dreds of charging-discharging cycles. Financial support was also provided by Malta Maritimma and the Research, Innovation and Development Trust of the University of Malta. The data obtained from the prototype was used to validate engineering software developed by the University to simulate the performance of the FLASC sys- tem. It also served as a proof-of-con- cept for this innovative energy storage technology. The FLASC project came to a close after three years of work, and will now be looking for investors to put the product on the market. For further info on the project visit: www.offshoreenergystor- age.com FLASC: a renewable energy storage system breaks existing market barriers in off-shore MCST Executive Chairman Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (front row, second from right) alongside Senior Director in charge of funding James Foden (front row, first right) POLICY makers, broadcasters and car makers are gather- ing at the Brussels Motor Show this week to raise aware- ness of new EU rules requiring all new car radios to be ca- pable of receiving digital terrestrial radio within two years. The European Electronic Communications Code (EE- CC) entered into force on 20 December 2018. EU Member States have two years from this date to transpose the code into national legislation. The EECC states that "any car radio receiver integrated in a new vehicle available for sale or rent in the EU will be required to include a receiver capable of receiving and reproducing radio services provided via digital terrestrial radio broadcasting". The decision is driven by a pan-European industry trend away from the previously prevailing FM standard and to- wards digital radio. In Europe, the most widely adopted form of digital ter- restrial radio is DAB / DAB+. DAB+ coverage is expanding rapidly across the continent with services on air in most European markets. There continues to be particular focus given on extending and improving coverage on major au- tomotive routes. Similar digital radio developments are taking place in other non-EU markets - in particular, in Norway where national FM services were switched off in 2017 and in Switzerland, which is planning a digital switchover be- tween 2020 and 2024. In these markets, respectively 98% and 85% of new cars now come with DAB+ as standard. In the UK, 91% of new cars already have DAB as standard, which means that this market is already close to reaching the EECC requirements. Italy has put legislation in place to ensure that all new cars have a digital radio receiver by 2020, and will there- fore comply with the EECC before the required legislative date. France has also just triggered a receiver law requiring all new car radios released 18 months from now to include DAB+ radio capabilities. In addition to its focus on car, the EECC also gives EU member states the opportunity to introduce measures re- quiring consumer radios to be able to receive digital trans- missions. Italy is the first country to introduce such a rule for con- sumer radios along with the French law triggered in De- cember last year, which requires all new consumer radios sold 12 months from now to have DAB+. Other markets, including Germany, UK and the Nether- lands are currently considering similar laws. EU digital radio rules in spotlight at Brussels