10 Years In The Making: Prime Minister Inaugurates Malta’s First Ever Solar Power Plant
Prime Minister Robert Abela took to Mġarr to inaugurate Malta’s first ever solar power plant, a project executed by local company Solar Solutions in collaboration with AX Group and PX Lettings.
“When I hear about these projects,” Abela said, “I’m reminded of how proud I am of Malta’s business community.”
Before this project was implemented, the power plant’s area was a coralline limestone quarry headed by Paul and Anġlu Xuereb. After all the stone was extracted, the quarry was filled in, which eventually gave way for the solar power plant project to start being implemented.
Abela went on to commend Malta for its resilience in light of the unfavourable economical circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, calling this project a prime example of how “the business community can work hand-in-hand with the environmental community.”
The plant is spread out over a whopping 90,000 square meters of land – out of which 50,000 square meters is covered by solar panels. Around 30,000 square meters was used to plant upwards of 3,000 trees and around 250 olive trees.
This was done in a bid to stop the plant from turning into an eyesore for residents of Mġarr. The remaining 10,000 square meters was adapted in a way to make the solar power plant more accessible.
The solar power plant is set to generate around 8,600,000 kW of electricity, enough to power around 2,200 homes all around Malta and Gozo.