Renewable energy agreement reached between GRTU, government

GRTU President Paul Abela and Renewable Energy Section President Noel Gauci have reached an agreement with Energy Konrad Mizzi, to join forces and boost the sector that operates in Photovoltaics in both quality and sales.

Through this agreement the Ministry will be supporting schemes earlier launched by GRTU, namely the GRTU APPROVED Certification and the PVPFS (PV Purchase Facilitation Scheme) to increase the number of families becoming owners of a safe, renewable energy system.

As a first step of the agreed plan the Ministry and the Malta Resources Authority (MRA) will be sponsoring a promotion and information campaign through various media, followed by a specialized fair in October.

These GRTU schemes are aimed at raising the quality standards in sales methods and installations, make PV systems affordable to more families and as a result increase sales.

"Quality is continuously being monitored by GRTU officials while purchasing is made easy via a three year loan scheme with no interest or charges for the clients. Some GRTU APPROVED members market their total system cost as low as €25/month (€900) thanks to the grant being offered by the MRA, electricity produced during this 3 year period and the PVPFS scheme," GRTU said in a statement.

"GRTU welcomes the positive attitude of the Minister and we feel this augurs well for the sector and will set renewable energy in Malta on the way to become at par with other European Member States. This is the kind of responsive attitude we wish to see more in the public service in general where they regard the private sector and their representatives as partners with whom they can collaborate for the benefit of everyone."

GRTU is also discussing plans for large PV farms with the aim of achieving the best deals from investors whilst giving all operators the chance to participate in the supply and installation processes. GRTU is also proposing that pockets of up to 3kW of these PV farms are made available for sale to families that do not own roof space where they can have their own PV system installed, solving a long standing situation of frustration for these families.

"GRTU is insisting that given all the limitations we are faced with in our country such as capability of Enemalta to sustain considerable increase in feed in tariff payments and suitable rooftops and land availability, prior to the approval of large projects, MRA together with GRTU should ensure that these are backed by a plan aimed at creating long term and sustainable green jobs for all operators and opportunities for Maltese families. GRTU is convinced that through ongoing dialogue the interests of everyone can be safeguarded."