Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1501675
12 NEWS ANALYSIS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 JUNE 2023 Solar farm on public land is source of income for MDA Labour cost and skills gap SMEs' main challenges for 2022 recovery Low investment risk for MDA with 48% stake in Ta' Qali solar farm with annual €212,000 'yield', and similar company for GRTU MATTHEW VELLA A giant solar farm on public land in Ta' Qali will earn Malta's developers lobby a generous in- come once feed-in tariffs pay off a €2 million capital spend. The solar farm company, Mal- ta Developers Green Energy (MDGE), is a joint endeavour between the Malta Developers Association and the Water Ser- vices Corporation. It was formed in 2017 under the aegis of then minister Konrad Mizzi. A similar company, Maltae- nergy, was formed by the WSC together with the Chamber of SMEs (GRTU). But while the land being used is the WSC's reservoir in Ta' Qali – which is public – the instal- lation of the 2,198 PV panels at €2 million will be paid off out of the feed-in tariff from the energy generated, that is, from the na- tional energy company Enemal- ta. That feed-in tariff, €0.13,3c per kWh, means the expected yield of 1.6 million kWh a year will generate a possible €212,800 in 'revenue'. There was no capital outlay on the purchase of the plant by MDGE, which is 48% owned by the MDA, while the rest is owned by the WSC. "What we brought to the pro- ject is our expertise," MDA pres- ident Michael Stivala told Malta- Today when asked what the role of the lobby in the company was. As things stand, the lobby will be entitled to any dividends from the company once the feed-in tariffs pay off the costs related to the PV panels. "We expect this to be fully paid only in around seven years," Stivala said. The only effective outlay was €150,000 in preparatory site works, which came through a shareholders' loan repayable at commercial rates. Stivala added that the MDA was responsible to pay the honoraria of its own di- rectors appointed to the MDGE board. In comments to MaltaToday, the WSC said the joint project is "in response" to the EU Directive 2009/28/EC on renewable ener- gy, a law that sets binding targets for the overall share of RE in each member state's energy con- sumption. The law welcomes the involve- ment of "relevant stakeholders" and local authorities, but it is unclear whether the MDA falls broadly into this category, espe- cially when local councils could have benefited from the feed-in tariff revenue. The WSC said any proceeds that may arise in the future will be distributed as dividends. Originally, the project was said to be able to lower Malta's car- bon emissions by 20,000 tonnes. Then MDA president Sandro Chetcuti said the "truly pro-busi- ness" Labour administration had turned a corner on the previous government's lack of appetite for clean energy investments. The joint venture, MDGE, was then said to be involved in more plans for solar farms to be built over WSC reservoirs. At the time, minister Konrad Mizzi said the joint company was meant to "strengthen" clean energy targets and benefit so- lar panel importers. A similar agreement exists for the GRTU, where the company Maltaen- ergy embarked on three solar farms on Qrendi's San Niklaw reservoir, generating 2.8MW of energy daily, while the Ta' Ċenċ reservoirs will generate 1 million kW annually. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt MALTESE small businesses keep reporting the lack of skilled staff and experienced managers as the most pressing problem they faced in 2022. The Survey on Access to Fi- nance of Enterprises (SAFE), an EU-wide survey carried out by the European Central Bank among over 15,000 small-and-medium enterprises, found this problem among 27% of companies. But in the 101 Maltese compa- nies surveyed, the problem grew to 35%, just beneath Netherlands (40%), Austria (37%) and Croatia (37%). The SAFE data shows that small businesses in Malta were seeing higher turnovers in 2022, but profits had fallen on the back of higher labour costs. Maltese SMEs remain supported through government subsidies keeping energy prices stable in Malta. But labour shortages and labour costs seem to have become ever more challenging, with indications that funding resources might be diverted to address such issues instead of being put to more pro- ductive use. The share of SMEs in Malta that consider higher costs as their most pressing ones rose to 16% in 2022 from 12% a year earlier – but below the 18% EU average. Meanwhile, the share complain- ing of burdensome regulations as a most important problem in 2022 dropped to 3%, from 12% in the preceding year. And 9% of SMEs in Malta considered the problem of finding customers for their products or services as their most pressing problem, down marginally from 10% reported a year earlier and that of 12% in the EU. 13% of Maltese SMEs consid- ered competition as the most pressing problem – above the share of 10% in 2021 but still be- low that of 16% reported pre-pan- demic. Regarding access to finance, the share of SMEs in Malta that con- sidered this as a most pressing problem has declined compared with recent years. It fell to 6% in 2022 – the same proportion as that in the EU. When asked about the availa- bility of different types of financ- ing, a net share of 3% reported a deterioration in the availability of bank loans in Malta – an un- changed share when compared to a year earlier. By contrast, in the EU the net share reporting a deterioration stood at 8%, com- pared with a net share of 6% that reported an improvement a year earlier. Furthermore, a net 2% of SMEs in Malta believed that the availa- bility of credit lines, bank or cred- it card overdrafts improved in 2022, as opposed to a net share of 3% that signalled a deterioration in 2021. In 2023, domestic SMEs expect- ed a deterioration in the availa- bility of bank loans, credit line, bank overdraft or credit cards overdraft, trade credit and 'other loans'. By contrast, they expected an improvement in equity capital, leasing or hire-purchase as well as debt securities. The SAFE was conducted be- tween September and October 2022 among 15,625 enterprises across the EU, covering the peri- od between April and September. Energy Minister Miriam Dalli inaugurating the solar farm on top of the Ta' Qali water reservoir in February 2023