Pannelli bla Bejt, a participatory solar project that will see 4,000 photovoltaic panels installed on 10 additional Water Services Corporation (WSC) reservoirs across Malta and Gozo, was officially launched.
Once the PV panels are in place, families who do not have access to a rooftop of their own will be invited to invest in the installation, and around five hundred families will have the opportunity to share in the income it generates.
The project was announced jointly by Minister for the Environment, Energy and Public Cleansing, Miriam Dalli and Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Employment, Byron Camilleri, together with WSC Chief Executive Officer Karl Cilia.
“Every project we complete and every panel we install brings us closer to a cleaner energy mix that can help us decarbonise our economy. We continue to increase our solar capacity and continue to work on various renewable energy projects, propelling our transition towards a cleaner power system,” Minister Miriam Dalli stated, referencing also installations already delivered by the WSC at Fiddien, Qrendi, Ċenċ, Ta’ Qali, Bulebel, Ċirkewwa, Lapsi and Pembroke, and to further sites being developed at Luqa, Barkat and Naxxar.
Once operational, the installation is expected to generate approximately four million kilowatt hours of clean electricity in its first year, equivalent to a reduction of around 1,500 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. The Corporation is committing three million euros in capital investment to prepare the infrastructure across the ten sites, with a further two million euros earmarked for installing the panels in the final phase of the project.
The scheme has been made possible through collaboration between the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Public Cleansing and the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Work, which jointly secured the capital investment required for the preparatory works.
Minister Byron Camilleri outlined the initiative as a practical step in widening access to the renewable transition, noting that “In recent weeks, I have been present at several announcements and events so that, as the Minister responsible for citizenship, I can express my support for a number of strategic projects with very clear objectives which collectively will make a positive difference in people’s lives. Today, we are focusing on this highly important environmental project, and the Government is increasing its initiatives whereby, through buildings and public spaces, it leads by example and acts proactively. Therefore, the project we are embarking on is an important one, in which members of the public who do not have access to a roof will be able to invest and receive a good return. It is thus an investment that makes them part of the environmental transition we are carrying out as a country”.
Under the model, participating households will make a one-off investment of €6,000, securing an allocation of eight photovoltaic panels with an estimated annual output of 7,500 kWh. Each participating family is projected to receive an average income of €840 per year, generating a total cash inflow of €16,788 over the twenty-year period. The model delivers a payback period of around seven years and a projected internal rate of return of approximately 13%. Final return figures will be confirmed once the feed-in tariff allocation is confirmed. WSC CEO Karl Cilia stressed that participation carries no operational burden, explaining that “once a family invests, WSC handles everything, the site, the build, the grid connection, the maintenance, the monitoring and the revenue”. He added that “the role of the participant is simply to invest, and then to receive the income generated by their share”.
Today’s announcement marks the start of the project’s preparatory phase. The infrastructure tender is being issued shortly, and certain civil works will begin immediately. The public call for families interested in investing will be issued once the panels are ready for installation. In the coming weeks, WSC will publish full information on its website and open a registration form that will allow members of the public to receive updates directly. All official communication will be channelled through WSC.
All details can be accessed on pannelliblabejt.com.
