“As opposed to what?”

That was Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia’s response to whether solar farms should be constructed on 43,000 sqm of good, arable land in Mġarr that features archeological remains and has an agricultural purpose.

The Minister sat down to discuss local and international affairs related to climate change and Malta’s environmental future on yesterday’s episode of Lovin Daily. 

Given the suggestion of offshore solar farms, or repurposing unused quarries, Farrugia continued by saying that will happen fifteen years from now in regards climate change targets.

“Who is going to reach the targets of 2030?” he continued.

He noted that off-shore solar farms technology is “still in it’s infancy” and may not be cost-effective.

The key targets for 2030 are at least a 40% cut in greenhouse emissions, a 32% share for renewable energy, and at least a 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency. 

Farrugia then proceeded to laugh when asked what is in plan for the country for the next two years in terms of renewable energy.

“Someone needs to decide,” he said, in reference to building solar farm on arable land. 

Farrugia immediately changed the subject and went back to the previous discussion of the yacht marina being proposed in Marsaskala, presenting his argument to the question.

“Listen, if you had to ask all local councils, ‘who wants a yacht marina?’ do you think any local council will vote in favour?”

“But if Malta needs it, the government has to decide,” he argued. 

In other words, Malta’s Environment Minister sees no harm in losing up to seven football pitches of arable land to renewable energy.

Mġarr local council took a strong stance against the permit in question earlier this week and stressed that clean energy should not come at cost of precious land. 

Representations against this application are currently being accepted by the Planning Authority. The deadline is the 22nd of September and can be sent in via email to [email protected]

If you haven’t watched the interview, check it out below.