Plans are in the works to build offshore wind farms with the capacity of powering the whole of Gozo, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has confirmed. 

“This is just one project I’m working on, to develop floating offshore wind farms as an energy source, while addressing its environmental impacts,” Dalli said on ONE TV’s Paperscan this morning.

“It will be able to generate all of Gozo’s energy needs and even extra to power the national grid, and I’m working on it in collaboration with Enemalta, the university, the Energy and Water Agency, and foreign companies, including Shanghai Electric.”

She confirmed the government is seeking to get this project funded by the European Union through its Innovation Fund.

The Energy Minister spoke out after MaltaToday quoted “senior government sources” as saying a site 12 nautical miles off the north-east of Gozo has been identified as the site of this project.

It also comes after the Nationalist Party proposed floating farms as a solution to help Malta reach its EU targets, which obliges all member states to become carbon neutral by the end of 2050.

Earlier this month, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia confirmed he and Dalli are looking at Gozo as a “pioneer for a zero-carbon economy”.

Scotland and Portugal have both launched offshore wind farms in recent years, while Denmark recently announced its plans to take a majority stake in a wind energy island proposed in the North Sea.

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