Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547581
6 COMMERCIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 NOVEMBER 2026 Alkagesta completes acquisition of Turkish marine fuel supplier energy petrol ALKAGESTA, the Malta-headquartered global energy and commodity trading house, has completed the acquisition of Energy Petrol, one of Türkiye's leading independent marine fuel suppliers, fol- lowing the transfer of shares in Novem- ber 2026. The transaction marks the first move by Alkagesta into vessel ownership and extends its physical marine fuel sup- ply operations from Malta across the Eastern Mediterranean. Founded in 1997, Energy Petrol is the third-largest physical marine fuel suppli- er in the port of Istanbul and will contin- ue to operate under its established brand. The acquisition includes eight marine fuel supply vessels and a long-term lease of 28,000 cubic metres of tank capacity in Gebze, bringing total oil products storage under the group to around 728,000 cubic metres across Europe and Asia. Following completion, Alkagesta has strengthened the management structure of Energy Petrol. Taha Karakan, who joined Alkagesta in October 2024 from Bunker Holding, has been named Man- aging Director – Türkiye, with strategic and commercial oversight of Energy Pet- rol. Aydın Yıldız has been appointed Ma- rine Sales Director of Energy Petrol after a decade at Petrol Ofisi, most recently as Head of Marine Sales of the market-lead- ing PO/Marine business. Energy Petrol was built under the lead- ership of Mustafa Muhtaroğlu, founding and current chairman of the Turkish Bunker Association and a board member of the International Bunker Industry As- sociation for 20 years. The acquisition follows a year of con- sistent, disciplined growth for Alkagesta, which traded 4.9 million metric tonnes in the first half of 2026 and in October hosted its Banking Partners Summit in Malta. The company employs 167 profes- sionals across 17 offices worldwide and maintains close to 300,000 cubic metres of storage in Malta across Evos Malta and Enemalta. Miriam Dalli visits Melita's Mqabba solar farm Melita has welcomed Hon. Dr Miriam Dalli, Minister for Energy, the Environment and the Regeneration of the Grand Harbour, to its 3.5 MWp solar farm in Mqabba. The Minister was shown round by Melita's CEO, Harald Roesch, and by Kevin Borg, Head of Customer Operations & AI Deployment. The solar farm sits in a for- mer quarry and covers around 24,000 square metres, roughly three and a half football pitch- es, with almost 5,000 photovol- taic panels. Over a year it pro- duces the equivalent of more than 40% of Melita's electricity use, or enough to power around 900 homes. "Our networks are critical na- tional infrastructure, and keep- ing them resilient, efficient and powered by clean energy is part Melita's responsibility to Mal- ta," said Roesch. "Mqabba is an important part of delivering on that responsibility, alongside moving our fleet to electric ve- hicles and cutting energy use across our offices. Malta's fu- ture will be digital and clean energy is an important part of that for us." The project is one part of Melita's wider plan to reduce its emissions. In 2025, 68% of Melita's fleet was electric, and the company aims to reach 85% by the end of 2026. Office elec- tricity use is down 19% since 2023. As land is Malta's scarcest resource, building this solar farm on a former quarry adds renewable capacity without taking new land. It took several years and close work with many stakeholders, and it is now de- livering in line with projec- tions. Melita is looking at further opportunities to generate its own renewable energy as suita- ble sites become available. For more information see melita.com/sustainability.