Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1318996
JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Resourc- es Authority says the erection of 6,000 photovoltaic panels on two massive greenhouses in Manika- ta is "excessive" and should not ideally be located in open coun- tryside. The 3.5m-high greenhouses occupy the equivalent land area of three football grounds' worth of agricultural land in Manikata, off Triq il-Biedja. The ERA is warning that ap- proval will result in negative visual impacts. While affirming that in prin- ciple it is in favour of renewable energy generation through PV facilities, these should be located "in appropriate locations that do not involve the uptake of unde- veloped land". The development is being pro- posed by a registered farmer who owns a part of the site. The planning policy regulating the development of solar farms excludes such developments in agricultural areas. According to the policy, which is still await- ing final approval, "solar farms should not take up virgin land, or agricultural land". In fact the policy steers solar farms towards areas of low land- scape sensitivity like quarry sites. A Strategic Environment As- sessment is currently being con- ducted to assess the impact of the policy on 27 quarries located in Natura 2000 sites. Most solar farms approved since 2013 have been located in quarries or former landfills. These include the already ap- proved Bengħisa solar farm con- structed on the site of a former dump, covering 29,000 square metres of land and producing a total of 2,400kWh of energy. Another large private so- lar farm was approved on a 77,000-sq.m-backfilled quarry in Mgarr, beneath the Falka Gap ridge. The privately-owned farm includes 16,896 panels, gener- ating 8.65 million units of clean energy per year, which are fed into the national power grid. But a small number solar pan- els have been approved on the open countryside on top of greenhouses. The rural policy of 2014 encourages farmers to opt for greenhouse development to boost incomes through "inten- sive crop cultivation" and over- come climatic constraints on fruit and vegetable production. But no policy currently regu- lates 'solar greenhouses'. The PA has already approved an 11,500sq.m solar farm at Fiddi- en in Rabat but refused another proposal in the sensitive area of Munxar in Marsaskala, where greenhouses were set to cover 4,000 sq.m of land. Over the past weeks, two other applications for greenhouse de- velopments with overlying solar panels have been proposed. A 2.2MW photovoltaic plant proposed by Electrofix Group is being proposed on a 26,000sq.m plot of agricultural land, along Triq Burmarrad and Triq Is-Sar- din in the Burmarrad hamlet. A smaller 'solar' greenhouse which utilizes eco-friendly aquaponics, is being proposed by Luxury Liv- ing Technology on 873sq.m of agricultural land along Mdina Road in Mgarr. 9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 DECEMBER 2020 NEWS Manikata solar farm raises concern about rural impact The ERA says solar farms should be located in disused quarries and not open countryside as farmer seeks green light for 22,000sq.m PV farm