Pannelli Bla Bejt: 4,000 solar panels to be installed, opening renewable investment to families without rooftops
Pannelli bla Bejt, a participatory solar project that will see four thousand photovoltaic panels installed on ten 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 Dr Miriam Dalli, Minister for the Environment, Energy and Public Cleansing, and Dr Byron Camilleri, Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Work, together with WSC Chief Executive Officer Karl Cilia.
“Every plant we build 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 euro in capital investment to prepare the infrastructure across the ten sites, with a further two million euro earmarked for the installation of the panels themselves 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 framed the initiative as a practical step in widening access to the renewable transition, noting that “for years, renewable energy in Malta has rewarded one type of household, the household with a roof you can use”. He said that Pannelli bla Bejt changes this by allowing families in apartments, shared buildings and older property cores to take part, adding that “if you do not have a roof of your own, you can still own a share of solar capacity, and you can still receive a share of what it generates”.
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 allocation of the feed in tariff 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 preparatory phase of the project. 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 to be installed. 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.
More information is available at pannelliblabejt.com
