The big white elephant

Former university lecturer and researcher Dr Edward Mallia is not only concerned about the viability of this site but more so at the refusal of the Ministry of Resources to consider alternatives. 

“The first report put to government by Mott Macdonald excluded the Sikka l-Bajda as a site for a wind farm, on the grounds that estimated wind speeds were too low; but a further report deemed this site to be useable. The results of a year of wind speed measurements have confirmed this conclusion.

“There is now the question of geological suitability of the site at Sikka l-Bajda. After preliminary investigations, it was thought that the site would prove suitable due to the shallow waters and the limestone seabed. However further investigations showed that a number of collapsed underwater caves, might make the seabed unsuitable for anchoring the turbines.”

Despite Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs, George Pullicino’s statement that the seabed is suitable, Mallia feels that it is unlikely that commercial investors would be willing to take on the project if they are required to conduct further research of the seabed to determine the exact costs of setting up the turbines, as foundations represent a hefty part of wind farm costs.

The project includes 14 to 19 turbines, with a diameter of 100 to 126 metres, which are to be installed over 11 square kilometres of sea, two kilometres off shore from L-Ahrax tal-Mellieha, generating 200 gigawatt hours (about 10% of present power station generation) of electricity – enough to sustain 40,000 households. The project is expected to cost €300 million.

Extensive measurements of wind velocity and direction have been conducted at other sites including Wied Rini, near Bahrija and Luqa Airport. Mallia claimed that the proposed site at Bahrjia, for which there are many years of wind speed measurements, could have had a 6 (medium-size) turbine farm that could have been up and running one year after the proposal for farms on Sikka l-Bajda, Bahrija and Hal Far was published in 2009.

“The proposed site at Bahrija hosts a number of maritime emergency radio masts that are not only useless but also potentially hazardous as they are in a state of disrepair. Pullicino however avoided the mast locations, insisting on fresh sites for the Bahrija turbines. A request for another two years of wind speed measurements for Sikka l-Bajda has just been made. Turbine construction is not expected until the spring of 2014 – a year after the completion of further research.

“We could have been reaping the rewards of wind energy from a small Bahrija wind farm for the last two years, but Pullicino seems to be dragging his feet on the project.”

Mallia maintains another site has been proposed for an off shore wind farm: a strip of seabed stretching from Marsalforn to San Blas off the north shore of Gozo.  

“Long term wind speed measurements, conducted by the University of Malta at Fanal tal-Gordan – a coastal site some 2 km west of Marsalforn – have indicated that north Gozo is a very good site.

“A proposal has been sent to the Minister of Gozo, Giovanna Debono including cost of setting up and maintaining the turbines as well as monitoring costs and economic benefits of the project. As of yet no response has been given by either Debono or Pullicino.

Is wind power worth harnessing?

A report published by the John Muir Trust in Scotland last April has dismissed the efficiency of wind power as a renewable energy source saying that the turbines operate at less than 10% capacity one third of the time making them unreliable in producing significant levels of power.

The report has been contested, not least by the facts relating to actual investment in wind energy by Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.  However, Mallia agrees with the principle that the Mediterranean does not have a top-notch wind resource, but argues that it is important for Malta to investigate every possible source of renewable energy.

“We currently generate less than 1% of our energy from renewable sources, a far cry from the 10% required by EU law by 2020. A further 3% is to come from the fraction of the Sikka l-Bajda turbines in operation by 2016.

“ The Mediterranean is not the ideal area to harness wind power due to comparatively low wind velocities and wind inconsistency. An annual average wind speed of more than 7 metres per second (m/s) is required to deem wind turbines feasible, and though the average wind speed near Sikka l-Bajda is 7.2 m/s, this is just an average. In the winter months these speeds go up to 8 – 8.5m/s but in summer dip as low as 4 m/s, making energy generation difficult.”

However Mallia still insists that every megawatt is worth generating. At peak times energy consumption in Malta reaches 400 megawatts (MW). Solar power generates approximately 7 megawatts (MW), with a recent call for applications set to generate a further 7 megawatts if fully satisfied. Another proposed project to harness wave energy forecasts a generation of a further 6MW. “We need to be doing all that we can to meet our 2020 EU targets.”