Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507380
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS co-op lobby seeking solar revolution And the economic value of cooperatives for renewable en- ergy only keeps growing as the price of gas rises in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2022 alone, when energy prices rose so high, more than 100,000 citizens who were members of these renewable energy communi- ties were able to save hundreds of euros on their annual elec- tricity bill. But that is a reality that has hardly been felt in Malta, where energy remains heavily subsidised by the state in a bid to keep the war's inflationary effects at bay. Friends of the Earth Malta's director Martin Galea de Gio- vanni, and Mallia, hope RES- coop's efforts across Europe can be replicated in Malta. "We want decisions on en- ergy generation and sustaina- bility to come from people on the ground," Galea de Giovan- ni says. To do this, residents and citizens must be allowed to buy into cooperative-owned PV panels that sell the energy to the national grid. It is not without precedent. Some Maltese schools have their own private investments from PV-panel suppliers who understand the value of invest- ing in projects paid off by the feed-in tariff. Two projects that literal- ly donated public land to two business organisations – the developers lobby MDA and small business chamber GR- TU in a 50-50 deal with the Water Services Corporation, a State company – are the solar farms on reservoirs. They were financed by a leaseback invest- ment from a PV-panel suppli- er. When the capital spend is fully paid back to the supplier from the feed-in tariff, the or- ganisations will reap the bene- fits of the project. So crucially, it is the govern- ment that must pave the way for citizen cooperatives to invest in RE projects by pro- viding valuable roof space to generate solar power for the national grid. Mallia says cit- izens could simply buy into a community-owned PV project with say, €500, earning their return from the solar energy fed to the national grid. "Co-op members get to earn a fair return on that energy that is sold, but they are also enti- tled to decide about how sur- pluses are invested, through a democratic vote," Mallia says, who believes co-ops also lead consumers to make better choices. "Co-ops are principled busi- nesses that are grounded in empowerment, ethics and de- mocracy," Mallia says, refer- ring to Vansintjan's own ex- perience. "After the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Vansint- jan continues, "members of my Ecopower co-op reduced their energy consumption by 45% because they had been learning more about the need to hunker down during the energy price crunch." Mallia believes it is not sim- ply awareness that drives co-op members like those of Ecopower. "It is the culture of empowerment – you are now an owner and generator of energy and no longer simply a consumer dependent on big business." Vansintjan, who said he will share the REScoop experi- ence with Energy Minister Miriam Dalli to show how an enabling framework can help energy co-ops, says this is how he convinces the mayors of the Belgian municipalities to choose co-op energy over oth- er companies: "I tell him, 'hey... each house- hold in your town is paying €1,000 a year in cash that goes to some company in Russia or Saudi Arabia'... they start mak- ing the math. And they realise why it's so important to keep that cash within their commu- nity. "Rural communities who had this idea decades ago, were the first to re-invest the cash from energy generation into say, bringing fibre cable to their remote areas as soon as pos- sible. That kind of investment helped them retain skills from young people in their towns and region, who were digital natives and did not need to move to the bigger cities." Martin Galea de Giovanni, who is part of environmental action in Malta and Europe to end gas dependence and for the island not to pursue its gas pipeline project, thinks this should also be the way forward for Maltese euros spent on hefty energy bills and flowing to the Electrogas sharehold- ers of Siemens and SOCAR. "Imagine that money being in- vested in Maltese renewables, rather than flowing out of the country to faceless sharehold- ers," he says. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt 14/09/2023 Transport Malta will be accepting offers per tow truck, for standby hours. An additional fee will be paid for each callout/tow. Additional towing may also be requested at the same additional fee.